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/ 

REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC 



THE THIRD PERIOD 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION 

IN THE YEAR 1864 — •"■" '], 



BY /-^ 

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN 

AUTHOR OF "THE BOYS OF '76" "THE STORY OF LIBERTY" "OLD TIMES IN TH|; COLONIES' 

"BUILDING THE NATION" " DRUMBEAT OF THE NATION" 

"MARCHING TO VICTORY" &c. 



jJllnstratcb 




NEW YORK 
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 

1890 



Copyright, 1889, by Harper & Brothers. 
All rights reserved. 






d 



DeMcatet) 

TO 

MRS. H. M. MILLER 

FRIEND OF MANY YEARS, WHOSE LIFE WORK HAS BEEN THE IMPARTING 

OF INSTRUCTION TO THOSE WHO WERE TO BE CITIZENS OF THE 

REPUBLIC, AND THE INCULCATION OF A DEEP AND 

REVERENT LOVE FOR OUR COUNTRY 

AND ITS INSTITUTIONS 



INTRODUCTION. 



"TDEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC" is the third vohime of the His- 
-L*^ toiy of the War of the Rebellion. It is intended to present a con- 
cise but authentic narrative of the leading military operations and events 
during the third period of the war, from the opening of the year 1864 to 
the close of its summer months. When the war began, the one motive 
animating the people of the North was the preservation of the Union ; 
but as tlie months rolled away, with clearing vision, it was seen that if the 
Union was to be preserved, slavery, which had caused the war, must be de- 
stroyed. Abraham Lincoln had issued a proclamation giving freedom to 
the slaves. It had been done as a war measure. Many men who at the 
outset had been earnest for the preservation of the Union questioned liis 
right under the Constitution to promulgate such an edict, but the great 
majority of the people demanded that slavery should be exterminated. 
The issue, therefore, during the third period of the conflict, was not the 
preservation of the Union alone, but the redemption of the republic from 
the curse of slavery. This, quite as much as the maintenance of the 
Union, in 1864, was the motive Mdiich nerved the soldiers in battle, and 
prompted President Lincoln and the loyal people to reject all thought of 
peace till the last slave should be free and the flag of the Union waving 
throughout the country as the emblem of authority. 

The midsummer of 1863 was distinguished by the victories of Vicks- 
burg, the opening of the Mississippi River once more to peaceful com- 
merce, and by the victory of Gettysburg, the turning-point in the war. 
The close of the year was characterized by the victories of Lookout 
Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Knoxville, and the permanent occupa- 
tion of the State of Tennessee by the soldiers of the Union- Up to that 
time there had been little unity of action by the commanders of the 
Union armies in the campaigns, which had been conducted in part by 
General Halleck, whose headquarters were in Wasliington. It was seen 



viii INTRODUCTION. 

that for efficient and harmonious action there must be one commander 
who slionld liave full control of military operations. To that end General 
Grant, who had won the victories of Donelson and Shiloli, who had 
planned the strategy of Yicksburg and Chattanooga, was created lieuten- 
ant-general by Congress and made commander of all the armies in, the 
Held. His appointment, in March, 1864, marked the beginning of a new 
period in the history of the war. This volume, therefore, is a narration 
of the leading events of the first months of the final struggle. 

It will be seen that the conflict became more intense and sanguinary 
as the Army of the Potomac made its way, by successive flanking move- 
ments, from the Rapidan to the James, under General Grant, while the 
Army of the West, under Sherman, advanced similarly from Dalton to 
Atlanta. 

On no European battle-field was there ever a loftier exhibition of 
bravery and valor — exhibited by Union and Confederate soldiers alike — 
than at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Resaca, 
Kenesaw, Marietta, and Atlanta ; unbounded, aggressive energy on the 
one side, by the troops of the Union, and resolute determination on the 
other by the soldiers of the Confederacy. 

Final victory is not determined alone by bravery, but by ability to en- 
dure. When the conspirators destroyed the Union, that they might estab- 
lish an aristocratic government based on slavery, they were blind to the 
movements of the age, and ignorant of the material resources or physical 
power of a fi'ee people, endowed with all tlie industries and arts of a high 
civilization, to maintain millions of men in arms, supply every needful 
want, and construct a navy that should blockade every Confederate port. 
They did not see that instead of starving millions, ruin and desolation, 
the JSTorthern States would become a great workshop ; that every art and 
industry would thrive* as never before. Neither, on the other hand, did 
they see that the time would come when there would be an utter ex- 
haustion of supplies in the Confederacy ; that slavery fostered no arts or 
industries; that in consequence there would come a fading away of all 
resources ; and that there would come an hour when there would be ut- 
ter inability on the part of the Confederacy to maintain the struggle. 

It will be seen that the Confederate Government, in order to retrieve 
its waning fortunes, did not scruple to violate the laws of neutrality and 
hospitality by making preparations in Canada to organize a force for the 
release of Confederate prisoners, by gathering desperate men to make 
havoc, burn and destroy the great cities of the North, and inaugurate 
civil war throughout the country by an alliance with the secret and dis- 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

loyal order known as the " Sons of Liberty." The plan, authorized by 
Jefferson Davis, failed through the vigilance and action of loyal men ; 
but in its inception and attempted execution it will ever be a witness to 
the decadence of moral principle in those who could look with compla- 
cence upon a plan for letting loose a horde of ruffians upon an unprotect- 
ed and unsuspecting people to burn, plunder, and destroy. 

As in " Drum-beat of the Nation " and " Marching to Victory," I 
have endeavored to make an authentic record of events, divesting myself 
of prejudice as far as it is possible for one to do so who was in the conflict 
from the first month of the war to the closing scene. I cheerfully and 
unreservedly accord bravery, valor, and heroism to the Confederate sol- 
diers as to those of the Union, great and distinguished ability to the gen- 
erals commanding the Confederate armies, self-denial, patient suffering, 
privation, endurance, and sincere belief in the righteousness of their cause, 
to the people of the South ; but on the other hand, after a quarter of a 
century has rolled away, and the passions and prejudices of the conflict 
are as ashes upon a hearth-stone, the conviction remains, and deepens with 
each passing year, illumined by the light of a loftier civilization than the 
world has ever seen, that the attempt to overthrow the benign govern- 
ment of the people, and the establishment of one based on slavery, will be 
regarded in the future not as a mistake, but as one of the gigantic crimes 
of all history. In writing the words, I am not conscious of any bitter- 
ness, but of pain and sorrow only. It was prompted by the aggressive 
spirit of the slave propagandists, who thought only of perpetuating their 
political power and the establishment of a nation in which the many 
should ever administer to the wants of the few. 

As the artist gazing upon the landscape M^hicli he has attempted to 
portray sits down in despair over his inability to give adequate expres- 
sion to its features, so I lay down my pen as I realize how feebly my 
words picture the valor, the love and devotion to the flag, manifested in 
the scenes of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Eesaca, and 
Atlanta; but such as they are, I give them, that the sons and daughters 
of this fair land may know how much it has cost to Redeem the Republic. 

> Charles Caeleton Coffin. 

Boston, September, 1889. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Opening of the Year 1864 1 

CHAPTER II. 
Red River Expedition. 44 

CHAPTER III. 
The Great Commander g7 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Wilderness 7y 

CHAPTER V. 
Spottstlvania 97 

CHAPTER VI. 
Bermuda Hundred and Drewry's Bluff I33 

CHAPTER VII. 
From Spottstlvania to Cold Harbor I53 

CHAPTER VIII. 
From Chattanooga to Allatoona I99 

CHAPTER IX. 
New Hope and Kenesaw , 228 

CHAPTER X. 
The Valley op the Shenandoah 360 



xii CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XL 



PAGE 



The "Alabama" and " Kearsarge" 288 

CHAPTER XII. 
From Cold Harbor to Petersburg 312 

CHAPTER XIIL 
Approaching Atlanta 335 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Siege op Petersburg 358 

CHAPTER XV. 
Mobile Bay 377 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Fall of Atlanta 401 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Confederate Raids 427 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Political Affairs in MrosuMaiEB, 1864 439 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Silent Forces 454 

INDEX 469 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAOE 

Artillery going into Action Frontupiece 

Keeping Watch 7 

Operations in the West 11 

Washing up 15 

Freedom 19 

The Battle of Olustee 23 

Return of the Union Army 27 

Ulrich Dahlgren 29 

On the Way to Freedom 31 

Destroying the Canal 35 

Massacre at Fort Pillow 39 

Union Refugees 45 

Map of the Red River Expedition 49 

Confederates under General Green 59 

Passing the Dam 63 

Lieutenant-general Grant receiving his 

Commission 69 

Movement to the Wilderness 79 

General Grant's Headquarters at Germa- 

niaFord '...., 83 

Major-gen. G. K. Warren 85 

Wilderness Battle-field 87 

In the Wilderness 89 

Spottsylvania Court-house 98 

House of Mr. Alsop 101 

Map of Spottsylvania 103 

Scene of Sedgwick's Death 105 

General Sedgwick 107 

"I propose to fight it out on this line, if 

it takes all summer " 113 

The Field of the Bloody Angle 116 

The House of Mr. McCool 123 

Gen. Wesley Merritt 127 

Sheridan and Stuart's Fight 129 

From Cold Harbor to Potcrsburtr 135 



PACK 

Pontoon-bridge, Point of Rocks, on the 
Apppmatox. (From a Sketch made 

June, 1864.) 139 

Engagement at Arrowfield Church 141 

Laying Pontoons 143 

Constructing Breastworks , 145 

Battle of Drewry's Bluff 147 

From Spottsylvania to Hanover 155 

Second Corps Batteries. (From a Sketch 

made at the time.) 158 

Soldiers in Rifle-pits near Chesterfield 
Bridge, North Anna River. (From a 

war-time Pliotograph.) 159 

Burning the Railway Bridge across the 

North Anna 160 

Loading with Canister 161 

Quarles'sMill, North Anna River. (From 

a Photograph taken in 1864.) 162 

Pioneers constructing a Road at Ox 
Ford. (From a Sketch made at the 

time. ) 163 

Earthwork taken by the Second Corps. 

(From a Sketch made in 1864.) 164 

Jericho Mill and Pontoon-bridge, North 
Anna River. (From a Photograph 

taken at the time.) 165 

Map of the North Anna 166 

Headquarters at Bethesda Church 169 

The Fifth Corps at Totopotonioy Creek 175 

Union Artillery at Cold Harbor 179 

Attack of the Eighteenth Corps at Cold 

Harbor 183 

Second Corps at Cold Harbor. (From a 

Sketch made at the time.) 185 

Cold Harbor 187 



XIV 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGU 

The Taveru at Cold Harbor. (From a 
Photograph taken in 1887 by the au- 
thor.) 189 

Tlie Tenth Massachusetts Battery firing 
the Signal for the Assault. (From a 

Sketch made at the time.) 191 

Officers' Quarters at the Front 194 

Bomb-proof Shelter 195 

Sharp-shooters, Eighteenth Corps 197 

Sufferings of the Poor in Tennessee. . . . 201 

From Ringgold to Resaca 205 

Major-gen. George H. Thomas 208 

Major-general McPherson 209 

Buzzard's Roost 210 

Cavahy Engagement, Snake Creek Gap 211 

Engagement at Dug Gap 213 

Railroad Depot at Resaca, Georgia 214 

Gen. Leonidas Polk 215 

General Sherman 217 

Dragging out the Cannon 220 

Burning Bridge at Resaca. (From a 
Sketch made on the morning of May 

16,1864.) 221 

The Battle of Resaca. (Fiom a Sketch 

made at the time. ) 223 

Battle of New Hope. — Attack of Hook- 
er's Corps on the Right 229 

Battle of New Hope. — Attack of Hook- 
er's Corps on the Left 233 

Ackworth Station. (From a Sketch 

made May, 1864.) 235 

The Battle of Pickett's Mill. (From a 

Sketch made at the time.) 237 

Battle of Dallas. — Logan Cheering his 

Troops 241 

From Resaca to Kenesaw 243 

Battle of Dallas. — Attack on Harrow's 

Division 245 

Where General Polk Fell. (From a 

Sketch made in 1864.) 247 

Deserters entering the LTnion Lines .... 249 
Union Signal-station on Pine Mountain, 

looking towards Kenesaw 251 

Kenesaw from Little Kenesaw 255 

^Marietta, 1864. (From a Sketch made 

at the time.) 257 

Destroying the East Tennessee Railroad 
Biiclge 261 



PAQIi 

Battle of New Market. 263 

Military Operations in the Shenandoah 

Valley 269 

General Custer 271 

Beginning of the Battle in the Woods. . 275 

Early's Movement to Washington 279 

Battle of Monocacy 282 

The Defences of Washington 284 

Confederates retreating across the Po- 
tomac with their Plunder 286 

The Alabama 289 

Raphael Semmes 292 

Chart of the Cruise of the Alabama. . . . 297 

The Kearsuvge 299 

Capt. John A. Wiuslow 303 

Kearsarge and Alabama. — Hauling down 

the Flag 305 

Movements of the Alabama and Kear- 
sarge 309 

The Second Corps, General Hancock, 
crossing the James. (From a Sketch 

made at the time.) 317 

General Grant at City Point 321 

Assault of Potter's Division, Ninth 

Corps 327 

Attacking the Confederate Intrench- 
ments at Petersburg. (From a war- 
time Sketch.) 329 

Avery House, Headquarters of General 
Warren, in front of Petersburg. 

(F.iom a wai'-time Sketch.). 332 

Generals Hunt and Duane 333 

The Fish -trap on the Chattahoochee 

where General Schofield crossed 336 

Turner's Mill, Nickajack Creek 337 

Major-general Schofield 339 

General Howard's Corps crossing the 
Chattahoochee. (From a Sketch made 

at the time.) 341 

Map of Atlanta and Vicinity 345 

View of Atlanta, from the Union Signal- 
station east of the City. (From a 

Sketch made at the time.) 347 

Where McPherson Fell 353 

Return of the Cavalry 359 

Tearing up the Rails 361 

First Connecticut Artillery Siege Guns. 363 
Soldiers' Wells 365 



ILLUSTKATIONS. 



PAQR 

Behind the Breastworks 367 

Capture of Guns by Miles's Brigade. . . . 371 

Engineer's Lookout 375 

Ofi Mobile Bay at Night 379 

Admiral Farragut 881 

Securing a Torpedo 383 

The Opening of the Battle of Mobile 

Bay 387 

The Seltna surrendering to the Meta- 
comet. (From a Sketch made at the 

time.) 893 

The Battle of Mobile Bay 893 

The Contest with the Tennessee. (From 

a Sketch made at the time.) 395 

Capture of Fort Morgan. (From a 

Sketch made at the time.) 399 

' ' I intend to place this army south of 

Atlanta" 403 

Battle of Ezra Church. (From a war- 
time Sketch.) 407 

Ezra Church 409 

Gen. Judson Kilpatrick 411 



Positions of the Union and Confederate 

Armies at Jonesborough 415 

Battle of Jonesborough 417 

Capture of Confederate Works at Jones- 
borough. (From a war-lime Sketch.) 418 
Confederate Prisoners taken at Jones- 
borough. (From a Sketch made at 

the time. ) 419 

Removing the People from Atlanta .... 423 

General Sherman's Quarters 425 

Gen. A. J. Smith 429 

Forrest's Cavalry in Memphis 431 

Ruins of Chambersburg 436 

Agricultural Industry in the Confed- 
eracy 455 

"Cotton is King!" — A Cotton Shed in 

New Orleans 458 

Weaving in the Confederacy 460 

Weaving in the North 461 

The Power of Free Labor 463 

" Sheep began to multiply upon the 
green mountains of Vermont " 465 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



CHAPTER I. 

OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 



F 



OR two years and seven months the War of the Rebellion had gone 

on. The victories at Gettysbnrg, Yicksburg, Port Hudson, Lookout 

Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Knoxville, won by the armies of the 

Union during the year, made the people of the North more than ever 

determined to carry on the war till the flag of the United 

Jan. 1, 1864. g^^^^^ shonld be recognized everywhere throughout the 

country as the only rightful emblem of sovereignty. 

Though the Confederate armies had suffered these defeats, they had 
won, during the year 1863, tlie victories of Chancellorsville and Chicka- 
mauga. Though the Mississippi had been opened and commerce was once 
more moving upon that river, though railroads had been torn up and 
locomotives destroyed, though the Army of the West had been forced out 
of Tennessee, the Confederate Government was as defiant as at the be- 
ginning. The newspapers of the Confederate States kept up the courage 
of the people by confident predictions of ultimate success. Far-seeing 
men, however, in the Confederate States saw that the resources of those 
States were rapidly wasting away, and that after a while there would be 
utter exhaustion. The soldiers might fight as bravely as ever, their cour- 
age on the battle-field and the elan of their charge upon opposing troops 
might be as noble as in the past, but they must be fed and clothed, and 
the waste of war made good if victory was to be won at last. 

When the great conflict began tiie soldiers of the "Confederacy were 

buoyant with hope. The victories won by them in 1862 had awakened 

a confident expectation of final triumph. Around their camp-fires they 

had sung of the " Bonnie Blue Flag," " Maryland, my Maryland." With 

1 



2 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

the morning reveille, and at evening parade, the bands had played the 
tune of " Dixie." The soldiers had sung it on the march and by the biv- 
ouac fire. It had become the musical air of the Confederacy. 



DIXIE. 










1 



Southrons, hear j^our country cull you ! 
Up, lest worse than death befall you . 

To arms! to arras! to arms in Dixie! 
Lo! all beacon fires are lighted. 
Let our hearts be now united : 

To arms! to arms! to arms in Dixie! 

Advance the flag of Dixie! 

Hurrah! Hurrah! 
For Dixie's land we'll take our stand, 

To live or die for Dixie! 
To .arms! To arms' 

And conquer peace for Dixie! 
To arms! To arms! 

And conquer peace for Dixie! 

It was heard less frequently than at the opening of the strife. It is 
not easy for us to sing after defeat and disaster. More than this, the sol- 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 3 

diers of the Confederate armies had begun to understand that the men 
opposing them were not the hirelings which the newspapers had repre- 
sented them to be, but that they were fighting for the maintenance of 
the Union, and of the ideas upon which it had been established. Tliey 
knew through sad reverses that the soldiers of the Union were as brave 
as themselves ; still more, they knew that while they were suffering hun- 
ger and were in want of clothing, the men opposing them had abundant 
supplies. Mau}^ a Confederate soldier, with clearer insight than Jeiferson 
Davis or the men composing the government, saw that the cause was 
waning, that the people of the United States were arousing themselves 
to prosecute the war with renewed energy. 

The nations of Europe beheld with amazement the growing propor- 
tions of the mighty struggle — the marshalling of great armies by a peoj^le 
without military experience, and wholly unprepared at the beginning. 
Never before in the history of nations had there been such a voluntary 
uprising of a people to maintain a government. On April 15, 1S61, 
President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand militia to maintain the 
authority of the Government, and ninety-one thousand volunteers re- 
sponded. On the 3d of May following he called for soldiers to serve for 
three years, and six hundred and fifty-seven thousand enlisted for three 
years, forty thousand for two years, and nearly ten thousand for one year. 
Again he called for volunteers in July and August, 18G2, and four hun- 
dred and twenty-one thousand enlisted for three years, and eiglity-seven 
thousand for nine months. From the beginning of the struggle to Au- 
gust, 1862, more than thirteen hundred thousand young men in the bloom 
of life left their farms and workshops and volunteered to maintain. the 
authority of the Government. 

But disease and death had decimated the ranks of the great armies. 
The Peace Democrats, a great political party, had declared that the Re- 
bellion never could be put down, that the war was a failure, and de- 
manded " peace at any price." No more volunteers came, and the Pres- 
ident was obliged to issue, by authority of Congress, an order for a draft, 
under which, in 1863, three hundred and sixty -nine thousand soldiers 
were added to the ranks. It was seen that if the war was to be pros- 
ecuted vigorously the armies must be made still larger ; and in March, 
1864, the President issued another order for a draft, under which three 
hundred and eighty-six thousand were gathered into the ranks. During 
the three years ending April, 1864, two million three hundred and eighty 
thousand soldiers were marshalled, armed, and equipped, and furnished 
with all needful supplies. 



4 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

The term of service of those who vohinteered at the outbreak of the 
Kebellion liad expired; but with iinquencliable love for the flag of their 
country, many thousands re-enlisted, to serve till the last Confederate 
should lay down his arms. The veterans who re-enlisted are to be in- 
cluded in the twenty-three hundred and eighty thousand. 

It never will be known just how many soldiers there were in the 
armies of the Confedei'acy, for there never were complete returns of those 
who volunteered or of those who were swept in by the conscription. 
When the war began, the young men, animated by military ardor, and 
by what to them was a lofty and ennobling idea — that they were called 
upon to maintain the sovereignty of the State, that their just rights had 
been invaded — hastened to enroll themselves as volunteers ; but early in 
1862 the enthusiasm began to wane, and the Confederate Congress passed 
an act giving Jefferson Davis authority to draft every able-bodied citizen 
between the age of eighteen and forty -five not specially exempted. 
There is no record of the numbers that were thus forced into the army. 
The first conscription called for those between eighteen and thirty-five 
years of age ; but when the news of the defeat of General Lee at Get- 
tysburg, of the surrender of Vicksburg and Port Hudson 
(see "Marching to Victory "), reached Kichmond, the Con- 
federate President called upon all men under forty-five years of age to 
repair at once to the camp in their several States. If they did not im- 
mediately do so they were to be regarded as deserters. When the Con- 
federate Conscription act was passed it was estimated that there were 
between seven and eight hundred thousand men under thirty-five who 
could be brought into military service. (') The records of the Adjutant- 
general's office in Richmond were kept so loosely, and were in such con- 
fusion, that neither the Adjutant-general, the Secretary of War, nor Jef- 
ferson Davis could tell how many men were in the field. (") 

Mr. Seddon was Secretary of War and very friendly to Jefferson 
Davis, but he was incompetent to manage the multitudinous affairs of 
the Department. The muster-rolls in 1863 showed between four and 
five hundred thousand drafted and enlisted men in the field ; but no one 
ever could tell how many had been gathered into the Confederate ranks, 
or how many had responded to the calls of the Governors of the several 
States. The conscription filled up the ranks thinned by death and dis- 
ease, so that in the opening months of 1864 the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, wintering on the banks of the Rapidan, was probably as strong as 
on the day when General Lee began his movement into Pennsylvania; 
while the army under General Johnston, at Dalton and vicinity, in North- 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 5 

em Georgia, was as powerful as tliose which fought tlie desperate battles 
of Shiloh and Chickamauga. 

The Confederate Government passed a law to discontinue " the ex- 
emption from military service of those that had furnished substitutes." 
Only two votes were cast against it in the Senate. It 

Dec. 30, 1863. "^^ ., , , , • ,. ,. „ -r^. , 

was followed by tiie immediate disappearance from Itich- 
mond and other cities of a large number of men who liad hired substi- 
tutes. Some of them made their way through the lines into the United 
States, others escaped on vessels running the blockade to Nassau, and 
from thence to Cuba or to England. A clerk in the Confederate AVar 
Department wrote this in his diary on the last day of December, 1863, 
the day following the passage of the law: "It rained the whole of this 
day ; nevertheless, the Jews have been fleeing to the woods with their 
gold, resolved to take up their abode in the United States rather than 
fight for the Confederate States, where they leave in tlie ranks the sub- 
stitutes hired by them."(^) 

We are not to understand that he had reference to the Israelites in 
the Confederacy, but to those men who had made money by speculation, 
and who had changed the Confederate paper-money into gold. We have 
a picture of the state of affairs in the capital of tlie Confederacy during 
the opening days of 1864. Flour was $150 per barrel; corn-meal $16 
per bushel ; guests at the hotels were paying $20 per day in Confederate 
paper-money; but an Englishman stopping at the best hotels, who had 
brought English shillings with him across the Atlantic, paid only sev- 
enty-five cents per day — of so little value was the paper-money. Colo- 
nel Preston gave a small dinner-party, which cost him $2000 in paper- 
money. (^) 

We are not to think that all the men in the United States who were 
liable to military service, between eighteen and thirty-five, were ready to 
take their places in the ranks when drafted ; for when Abraham Lincoln 
issued his order for filling up the ranks, a great many men fled to Canada. 
A large number who called tliemselves Peace Democrats, who were op- 
posed to the war, liastened at once beyond the reach of the draft officers, 
returning only when there was no longer any probability of their being 
called upon to enter the army. 

The winter was cold and dreary and comfortless to the soldiers of the 
two great armies gathered on the banks of the Rapidan. Snow fell upon 
Union and Confederate alike, whirling around the huts which they had 
erected to shelter them from the blasts, blinding the eyes and chilling 
the sentries as they kept ward and watch against surprise. In the army 



6 redep:ming the republic. 

of the Union there was abundant food, while the Confederate soldiers, 
throui^h the inefficiency of the Commissary Department, through the 
wearing out of the railroads and locomotives, had scant supplies. The 
army under General Lee for many weeks had only one -half its daily al- 
lowance of food, and often during the winter had meat only two or three 
days in a week. 

From the armies of the Union veteran soldiers were departing to 
their homes on furlough, to clasp loved ones once more in their arms — 
to hear the prattle of their little children — to look into loving eyes of 
parents, wife, or sister — to sit by the fire in the old kitchen and tell the 
story of the battles to listening neighbors ; then bidding once more a 
tearful farewell, and returning to their comrades with their souls again 
on fire with love for the flag of their country. 

In the ranks of the army under General Lee there was like constancy 
and devotion to the flag of the Confederacy. The Confederate soldier 
believed that he was fighting in a righteous cause, not comprehending 
that the war Avas inaugurated and maintained for the preservation of an 
institution which had become repugnant to the moral sense of men every- 
where throughout the civilized world, and which, by attempting an over- 
throw of a government of the people, had doomed itself to destruction. 
That the soldiers of the Confederacy were mistaken as to the meaning 
of the war takes away nothing from their valor, courage, and endurance 
of hardship and privation. They believed that they were contending for 
their rights, yet it is quite probable very few of them would have been 
able to say just Avhat their rights were. There were to be other weary 
marches, more battles, more outpouring of blood, before the fading away 
of the glamour Avhich obscured their vision. Only by final defeat and 
exhaustion would they come to see that they had endured hardship and 
suffered defeat for the maintenance of slavery. 

One of the newspapers of Richmond contained a long article upon 

the beneficence of slavery. " It is a system," it said, " in which the race 

enslaved has been brought to the highest condition of hap- 

Jan. 2, 1864. . i i- • , . , i" • -.,.,.. 

piness and religious and social cultivation of wlncli it is 
capable. It is an order of society, moreover, found to be peculiarly 
favorable to the development and permanency of republican institutions, 
relieving the State of all those dangers which have their birth in the 
passions of the raob."(^) 

The Confederate Government was organized to maintain that insti- 
tution. The Government of the United States, on the other hand, and 
the Union soldiers at the beginning of the war, had but one aim — the 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 9 

restoration of the authority of the United States ; but in the progress of 
events the end in view had become the overthrow of the institution 
which was the corner-stone of the Confederacy. 

When the war began, the few vessels composing the navy of the 
United States had been scattered far and wide by President Buchanan's 
Secretary of the Navy. (See " Drum-beat of the Nation," p. 20.) Througli 
the three years of tlie struggle the Government had done what it could 
to create a navy which would effectually close by blockade every port of 
the Confederacy. So efficient had the navy become that at the begin- 
ning of ISGi the only ports which the blockade-runners of England could 
arrive at or depart from were Wilmington and Savannah, on the Atlan- 
tic coast, and Mobile, Galveston, and the month of the Kio Grande, on 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

Only by taking advantage of nights M-hen there was no moon, or 
when clouds shut out the stars, was there much chance for eluding the 
vessels lying off those ports, with crews ever on the watch. The growth 
of the navy had been very rapid. There were 75 iron-clad 
Jan. 1, 1864. ^^^^^^^ 3^3 gteamcrs, and 112 sailing-vessels, numbering, in 
all, 588 vessels, carrying nearly 4500 guns, manned by 31,000 seamen. 
Nearly 1000 English vessels, valued at more than $20,000,000, had been 
captured and destroyed. So many vessels had been captured or sent to 
the bottom of the ocean, that the men in England whose sympathies were 
with the Confederacy, and who had been sending arms and ammunition 
across the Atlantic in exchange for cotton, began to find that their losses 
w^ere more than their gains. 

The vigilance and efliciency of the navy was having a marked effect 
upon the waning fortunes of the Confederacy. The Confederate Gov- 
ernment, under the delusion that cotton was king, had established its 
financial system on that one agricultural product. When the conspira- 
tors brought about the war, they calculated that England would purchase 
three hundred million dollars' worth of cotton per annum ; that the man- 
ufacturers, and the men and women who were spinning and weaving in 
the mills of Lancashire, would compel the British Government to break 
the blockade ; but the brave-hearted men and women, who knew that the 
soldiers of the Union were fighting a great battle for freedom, though 
starvation had come to them and they were living on charity, gave their 
sympathies to the Union. (See "Marching to Victory," p. 114.) The 
blockade was not broken, nor was there any prospect that it would be. 
Very little cotton was finding its way from the Confederacy to England, 
and the Confederate financial system went down, through the vigilance 



10 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

of the men who, from tlie mast-heads of the blockading fleet, through 
the live-long nights scanned the horizon, while their vessels lay drifting 
upon the heaving sea or moving slowly between the headlands of the 
harbors. Planters in the heart of the cotton-growing States, whose sheds 
were piled with the harvests of three years, found themselves growing 
■»30orer, notwithstanding their accumulated crops of cotton. Their slaves 
were becoming burdensome, for they were no longer wealth producers 
but consumers. The Confederacy was read}' to purchase corn and bacon 
from the planters, but the paper-notes of the Government were valueless. 
So slavery, the institution for the preservation of which the conspirators 
had inaugurated the war, was feeling the silent but effective work accom- 
plished by the navy. 

During the war, railroad junctions in the Confederate States were usual- 
ly important places from the military point of view. Meridian, in eastern 
Mississippi, not far from the Alabama line, was a new town built in the 
pine woods, the junction of the railroad leading east from Vicksburg to 
Selma and Montgomery, in Alabama, and thence to Charleston and Savan- 
nah, and the road leading northward from Mobile to Corinth. The Con- 
federate Government had selected Meridian as a convenient base for mil- 
itary supplies, had collected a large amount of provisions at that point, and 
established an arsenal and armory, where arms were repaired. It had thus 
become a place of great importance in connection with military operations. 
Lieutenant-general Polk was in command of the Confederate troops in 
Mississippi, with his headquarters at Meridian. He had two divisions of 
infantry, one commanded by General Loring, which was at Canton, on 
the railroad, a few miles north of Jackson, in the centre of the State, 
and the other commanded by General French, who was at Brandon, be- 
tween Jackson and Meridian. The troops were stationed at these places 
because there was an abundance of food to be had from the surrounding 
plantations ; and if they were needed at Mobile, or northward at Chat- 
tanooga, they could be sent by rail in either direction at short notice. 
More than this, they could be thrown forward to the Mississippi, and 
strike a blow in that direction should opportunity offer. The Confed- 
erate cavalry had become very bold, and steamboats on the Mississippi 
were frequently fired upon. 

The Union troops at Yicksburg were under the command of General 
Sherman, who went to Nashville and asked permission of General Grant 
to organize an expedition with the special design of destroying the rail- 
road junction and Confederate armory and stores at Meridian, which, if 




OPERATIONS IN THE "WEST. 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 13 

effectually done, would prevent tlie Confederate armies in Virginia and 
in front of Chattanooga from receiving supplies from the south-western 
section of the Confederacy. General Grant thought well of the plan. 
General Sherman's spies, who went out from Memphis and Vicksburo-, 
informed him that besides the Confederate infantry at Canton and Bran- 
don, there were between four and live thousand Confederate cavalry un- 
der General Forrest roaming through western Tennessee and northern 
Mississippi, moving rapidly, cutting off Union supply- trains and small 
bodies of troops, sending a few troops to lire upon steamboats, greatly 
annoying the Union commander. To put a stop to Forrest's operations, 
General Sherman directed Gen. William Sooy Smith to organize a large 
cavalry force, and to move from Memphis and scatter the Confederate 
cavalry. Smith was to start February 1st ; Sherman, February 3d. Smith 
would march south-east ; Sherman, due east. 

"You will encounter Forrest. He is a good fighter, and you must 
always be prepared for him. After you have repulsed him you must 
attack and utterly rout him." Such the tenor of Sherman's instruc- 
tions. (') 

It was a beautiful morning when the Sixteenth Army Corps, com- 
manded by General McPherson, accompanied by the Seventeenth, com- 
manded by General Hurlburt, marched eastward from their 

r eb. 3, 1864. -\t' ^ i 

encampments at Vicksburg, preceded by a brigade of cav- 
alry. There were forty-one regiments of infantry, three of cavalry, forty- 
two cannon ; in all, nearly twenty thousand men. The roads were in ex- 
cellent condition, and the soldiers, with life and spirit, after weeks of rest, 
marched rapidly, and at nightfall were seventeen miles on their way tow- 
ards Meridian, kindling their bivouac fires at night on the eastern bank 
of the Big Black River. The next day they were marching past the bat- 
tle-field on which they had won the notable victory of Champion Hills. 
(See " Marching to Victory," p. TO.) The succeeding day brought them 
to Jackson, where they had a skirmish with the Confederate troops sent 
out by General Loring. 

At Decatur General Sherman narrowly escaped being captured. He 
rode up to a log-cabin, unsaddled his horse, threw himself upon a bed, 
and soon was sound asleep, but was awakened by the firing of pistols. 

" The Rebel cav^alry are all around us !" shouted Major Audenreid. 
General Sherman had himself posted a regiment at the junction of two 
roads as guard ; but an officer, not knowing that he was in the house, had 
ordered the troops to move on. The Confederate cavalry had improved 
the opportunity to dash upon the wagon-train. Major Audenreid ran to 



14 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

brinj? back tlie troops, while General Sherman secreted himself in a corn- 
crib. The troops came upon the run, and the Confederates fled.(') 

"When the troops halted at night, they washed themselves at the vil- 
lao-e pump, kindled fires, cooked their coffee, and in the early morning 
ao-ain were on the march, making 160 miles in ten days. The advance 
was so rapid, the movement so unexpected, that the Confederates had 
not time to remove the locomotives and cars at Meridian. The railroad 
buildings and all the property belonging to the Confederate Government 
were burned, together with railroad bridges, and the tracks torn up 
eastward to Alabama, southward twenty miles, also westward and north- 
ward. Hearing nothing from the cavalry under General Smith, General 
Sherman began his return, reaching Vicksburg without a battle ; having 
destroyed more than one hundred miles of railroad-track, burned sixty- 
seven bridges and seven thousand feet of trestle, destroyed twenty loco- 
motives, twenty-eight cars, ten thousand bales of cotton, two million 
bushels of corn, owned by the Confederate Government, together with 
the arsenal and its machinery. 

Swiftly from plantation to plantation spread the news of the move- 
ment of Sherman. The slaves knew of it before the information reached 
their masters ; and when the sun went down, old and young, men, wom- 
en, and children, were on the move, stealing noiselessly away from their 
cabins, with bundles in their hands or on their backs, on foot, on mules 
and horses, in rickety carts drawn by a single cow with rope harness — 
more than five thousand of them hastening to gain the freedom which 
had been given them by Abraham Lincoln, and which they knew would 
be theirs could they but go with the men who carried the Stars and 
Stripes. (') They brought chickens, turkeys, and sucking-pigs to the sol- 
diers, carried their knapsacks for them, waited upon them, thus express- 
ing their gratitude. The movement was a blow which greatly crippled 
the operations of the Confederate army for the remainder of the year. 
It gave General Sherman an insight of the true condition of the coun- 
try : that there were abundant supplies of food in the Confederacy, and 
that a Union army might cut loose from its base of operations without 
fear of starvation. What came of this observation we shall see in due 
time. 

Where was the force of cavalry which started from Memphis on the 
1st of February, and was to co-operate with the infantry? A military 
commander may lay his plans wisely, may think out a strategic move- 
ment which pron)ises great results, but which may fail through the inef- 
ficiency of a subordinate oflScer. General Sherman had planned the 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 17 

movement not only to destroy Meridian, but to scatter Forrest's cavalry 
to the winds. He had given General Smith a strong force, had directed 
him to start on the 1st of February, but not till the 11th of the month 
was he in motion. He waited for a brigade which was on steamboats 
descending the Mississippi, and which was ice-bound at Columbus. (^) 
When at last he began his movement, Sherman was at Meridian, too far 
away to co-operate with him. General Forrest confronted him near Oka- 
lona, on the Mobile and Ohio Hailroad. After destroying a portion of 
the railroad-track and a large quantity of corn and cotton, General Smith, 
finding Forrest so strong, returned to Memphis, accompanied by more 
than one thousand negroes, many of whom, a few weeks later, were en- 
listed as soldiers in the service of the Union. The cavalry movement 
had been inefiiciently conducted, and General Forrest's forces, instead of 
being dispersed, became bolder than ever in their operations. 

The Union and the Confederate armies west of the Alleghanies, at the 
beginning of 186-1, were like men upon a chess-board. The Union Army 
of the Cumberland, under General Thomas, was at Chattanooga, con- 
fronted by a Confederate army at Dalton, Georgia, under Gen. Josej^h 
E. Johnston, who had succeeded General Bragg. General Thomas had 
lost so many horses, and had such a scant supply of provisions, that he 
could not make any offensive movement, except a demonstration towards 
Dalton to prevent General Johnston from sending troops to General 
Polk. 

It is twenty-four miles from Chattanooga to Ringgold, thirty-one to 
Tunnel Hill, the dividing line between the waters of the Tennessee 
northward and the streams which run southward to the Gulf of Mexico, 
and forty miles to Dalton. The advanced troops of General Johnston 
held Tunnel Hill, where the railroad from Chattanooga to Dalton passes 
through a tunnel. The Union troops held the battle-field of Chicka- 
mauga and the town of Ringgold. 

General Palmer commanded the Union troops nearest to Ringgold. 
Deserters from Johnston's army came into his lines and said that Cle- 
burne's and Cheatham's divisions of the Confederate army 

Feb. 22, 1864. , . , ^ , m i • • /^ i 

were hastenmg southward on the railroad to join General 
Polk. General Palmer thereupon sent word to General Thomas, who or- 
dered an advance of all available troops towards Tunnel Hill. There 
was skirmishing between the Union and Confederate cavalry, cannonad- 
ing by the artillery, the advance of Davis's, Cruft's, and Baird's divisions, 
which had the effect of bringing back the two Confederate divisions that 
had started to join General Polk. 
2 



18 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

General Thomas found that the Confederates occupied a very strong 
position, and that Johnston's army was larger than his own, and so re- 
turned to Ringgold and Chattanooga, having lost in the several skir- 
mishes and in the attack of General Turchin's brigade at Tunnel Hill 
between three and four hundred men. But he gained valuable informa- 
tion. He saw that the position of General Johnston was very strong; 
that there were hills and mountain ranges rising sharp and steep, with 
white ledges of limestone crowning their summits ; that there were nat- 
ural fortifications which were being made impregnable by the Confed- 
erate soldiers ; that westward of Tunnel Hill there was a valley, called 
Snake Creek Gap ; that if an army could make its way through that 
pass, all of the strong positions could be flanked and made of no account. 
We shall see by-and-by how valuable was the knowledge gained by this 
movement. 

Going to East Tennessee, we see a Union army under General Scho- 
field at Knoxville, and a Confederate force under General Longstreet, 
who in November, 1863, had been repulsed with heavy losses in his at- 
tack upon Knoxville. (See "Marching to Victory," chap, xxiii.) General 
Longstreet's troops were at Bristol and Abingdon, subsisting upon the 
sui-rounding country. The army under General Schofield could make 
no aggressive movement, for want of horses and supplies. The country 
was becoming very poor, and the people of East Tennessee were suffer- 
ing terrible hardships. 

During the months of January and February there were numerous 
bands of guerillas in Tennessee — men who sympathized with the Con- 
federates, who would be working on their farms one day as quiet, peace- 
able, unoffending citizens, who the next day would be miles away from 
their homes, burning bridges on the railroad, drawing spikes from the 
ties, rolling stones upon the track, or pouncing upon a Union army-train 
or an outpost guarded by half a dozen soldiers. There were frequent 
skirmishes and small engagements. General Thomas organized a force 
of loyal Tennesseeans who were thoroughly acquainted with the coun- 
ti-y, who guarded the railroads and bridges, thus relieving the troops. 
The one line of railroad leading from Chattanooga to Kashville was re- 
paired, but not till the month of March could there be any preparation 
for the great campaign of the year. Steamboats were built to ply upon 
the Tennessee, a great storehouse was erected at Chattanooga, block- 
houses were built at the crossings of rivers, together with fortifications, 
so that a few troops would be able to protect the bridges. By such ar- 
rangements the Union cavalry, which had been guarding the railroads 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 21 

and holding the country in rear of the armies, were relieved and placed 
in positions to take part in the approaching campaign. 

President Lincoln was informed that there were a large number of 
Union men in Florida, and that if a military force were sent to that 
section a State government that would be loyal to the Union 
' ' could be organized. lie therefore directed General Gillmore, 
in command of the troops on the south Atlantic coast, who had captured 
Fort Wagner, and who had reduced Sumter to a shapeless ruin (see 
"Marching to Victory"), to send an expedition to Jacksonville. So it 
came about that on February 7th twenty steamers, several gunboats, and 
a fleet of schooners appeared off the mouth of St. John's River with 
five thousand troops, which landed at Jacksonville, and marched into the 
country along the line of the Central Railroad leading westward, dispers- 
ing small bodies of Confederate troops, capturing eight cannon, several 
wagons, a large amount of supplies, and several thousand bales of cotton. 
The object of the expedition was not only to establish a loyal govern- 
ment, but to procure an outlet for cotton and lumber. A great many 
slaves had made tlieir way out to the blockading vessels along the coast, 
leaving their cabins and entering boats with a bundle of clothes, hoe- 
cake or chicken for food, and it was supposed that recruits might be 
obtained for the colored regiments. 

The troops were under the command of Gen. Truman Seymour. 
Having scattered the Confederates and captured their cannon. General 
Seymour pushed on twenty miles to Baldwin, where he was directed by 
General Gillmore to concentrate his force. ('") 

General Seymour, having accomplished so much, ardently desired to 
do more — to destroy the railroad bridge across the Suwanee River, twen- 
ty-five miles farther on; and so, without supplies, with a small quantity 
of ammunition, disregarding General Gillmore's orders, he ordered an 
advance from Baldwin. (") 

It was a wearying march along a sandy road, through pine woods and 
groves of live-oak, where long festoons of moss hung trailing from the 
trees. The troops made their way across marshes and through palmetto 
thickets. They had a scant supply of food. Herds of pigs were running 
wild in the woods, but General Seymour issued stringent orders that 
none should be killed. He was entering Florida on a mission of recon- 
ciliation, to re-establish the authority of the Government, and expected 
that the people would welcome his coming. An officer who disregarded 
the order, and who allowed his hungry men to kill a pig, was severely 
reprimanded. ('^) 
2* 



22 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

"You will come back faster than you advance," said the citizens who 
lived along the route, and who knew that the Confederates were concen- 
trating for a battle. General Colquitt, with his brigade of Georgia troops, 
had arrived on the cars, sent by General Beauregard, in command of the 
Department, to Lake City to join General Finnegan. Instead of waiting 
for the Union troops to reach that place, General Finnegan ordered his 
army forward to a strong position in the woods, near the hamlet of 
Olustee, jDosting them along the railroad embankment. The Confed- 
erates outnumbered the Union troops and had twelve cannon. They 
had the advantage of position, and were acquainted with all the roads 
and winding paths, the marshes, ponds, and streams. 

It was two o'clock in the afternoon; the' Union troops had marched 
sixteen miles without halting, when the cavalry came upon the Confed- 
erate pickets. The troops were in three columns ; Colonel 
' ' Barton's brigade was on the right, consisting of three regi- 
ments, the cavalry and mounted infantry in the centre, with two regiments 
of infantry; the brigade of Colonel Ilawley occupied the left, with three 
regiments of colored troops under Colonel Montgomery. 

The flanks of the Confederate troops were protected by swamps. 
They had thrown up breastworks, and were quietly waiting for the ad- 
vance of the Union troops. The thickets were so dense that the Con- 
federate position could not be discerned. The advancing troops heard 
no commotion in front of them ; only their own tramping and the sigh- 
ing of the wind through the foliage of the lofty pines broke the silence. 
The Seventh Connecticut was in the advance; it passed a swamp and 
came out into a field, when suddenly from right to left there burst 
forth a deadly fusillade. Quickly the Union troops came into position 
and opened fire. In a very few minutes the l>attle was fiercely raging. 
There was brave fighting. The Union troops were veterans who had 
been in the terrible storm of jVagner. (See "Marching to Yictory," chap, 
xvi.) The Confederates, behind their breastworks, and screened by the 
thickets, had greatl}' the advantage; but for three hours the contest went 
on, till the ajnmunition of Union and Confederate alike was nearly ex- 
hausted. Under the fierce fire it is not strange that the Union soldiers 
gave way, but they 'were rallied by their officers. 

The Confederates bided their time, the sharp-shooters picking off the 
Union officers, shooting the horses of the artillery — so many of them that 
when the Union troops retreated they were obliged to leave five cannon 
on the field. 

The battle ended with the coming on of night. The Union troops, dis- 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 25 

comfited, having lost more tlian fifteen linndred men in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners, without provisions, began their w^eary march towards Jack- 
sonville. Thus, through disobedience of orders by General Seymour, the 
attempt to re-establish a loyal government in Florida had ended in dis- 
aster. The time had not come for the restoration of the authority of the 
United States in that State. 

In the old tobacco warehouse known as Libby Prison, in Richmond, 
and on Belle Isle, on James River, w^ere several thousand Union prisoners. 
Some of the ofiicers of the Army of the Potomac believed that a large 
body of cavalry, moving swiftly, might make its way into Richmond 
and release them. General Meade consented that the attempt might be 
made, and it was intrusted to General Kilpatfick, who selected General 
Gregg's and General Merritt's divisions, and who intended first to get 
between General Lee's army and Richmond, destroy the raih-oads, so that 
no trains loaded with troops could come thundering down upon him. 
He had about five thousand men, who took rations for three days in their 
haversacks and three feedings of oats in bags for their horses. General 
Kilpatrick believed that he would find grain in the corn-bins to supply 
his horses with food. It was an enterprise which enlisted the sympathies 
of every soldier. The thought of releasing their comrades in prison fired 
their enthusiasm. 

One of the officers who ardently desired to serve in the expedition 
was Ulrich Dahlgren, whose father was an admiral in the navy. He 
was but twenty-two years old, but had rendered signal service in West 
Virginia at the beginning of the war, and also on General Hooker's staff. 
He had lost a leg in a skirmish just after the battle of Gettysburg, but 
the wound had healed, and he had returned to the army and was com- 
mander of a brigade. 

It was three o'clock Sunday morning when the column left Stevens- 
burg, moved south-east, came to the Rapidan at Ely's Ford, captured the 
Confederate pickets, and moved on to Spottsylvania Court- 

Feb ''8 1864 j. •/ 

' " ' ' house. From that point we see Colonel Dahlgren moving 
south-west with five hundred men, with the intention of reaching James 
River above Richmond, destroying the James River Canal, and then mov- 
ing upon the city from the west. General Kilpatrick with the main body 
moved south to destroy the railroads, one leading to Fredericksburg, the 
other to Gordonsville, and by which General Lee received his supplies. 

While this large force of L^nion cavalry is in motion towards the Con- 
federate capital, another division under General Custer is moving from 



26 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Madison Court-house south-west towards the left flank of General Lee's 
army, to attract the attention of the Confederates in that direction M'hile 
Kilpatrick executes his movement. 

Early Monday morning General Kilpatrick reached the Virginia Cen- 
tral road, and the soldiers qnickly tore up the track. At Frederickshall 
the troops came so suddenly upon a Confederate court-martial in session 
that the officers composing it — a colonel, five captains, and two lieutenants 
— were captured. A few hours later General Kilpatrick was at Ashland, 
seventeen miles from Richmond, burning bridges and tearing up the track. 
On Tuesday noon he was within five miles of the Confederate capital. 

Just before noon the Confederate authorities in the city learned that a 
large body of Union cavalry was rapidly approaching, and there was a 
quick mustering of men — ^clerks in the Departments, invalid soldiers, and 
guards — some hastening north and north-east, and others north-west, man- 
nino; the fortifications. It was one o'clock when tlie citizens heard the 
booming of cannon in the north. General Kilpatrick had only one bat- 
tery of light artillery, six guns, and could do very little against the heavy 
cannon in the fortifications, but for two hours the cannonade went on with 
the expectation on the part of the Union commander of hearing from 
Dahlgren, but no uproar of battle could be heard, and he withdrew his 
troops towards the White House, at the head of York River. An hour 
later a roll of musketry was heard north-west of the city, in the direction 
of Goochland, the beginning of a short engagement between Dahlgren's 
men and the Confederates. Colonel Dahlgren had marked out a route, 
had calculated the time it would take him to reach James River and de- 
stroy the canal, burn bridges, and reach Richmond. It was a well-consid- 
ered plan, but the man who guided him, either designedly as a traitor or 
ignorantly, took a road which led him nine miles out of the direct course. 
It was four o'clock in the afternoon when he reached the Confederate 
earthworks north-west of the city, to find them occupied by the hastily 
gathered force from Richmond. He saw what Kilpatrick had already 
seen, that there could be no sudden rush through the streets and opening 
of the doors of Libby Prison, and moved east to join Kilpatrick. He 
crossed the Mattapony River, and went on towards Williamsburg. On 
Wednesday night he thought himself so far away that he was beyond all 
possibility of attack, but a body of Confederates followed him, discovered 
his bivouac fires, placed themselves by the road-side in ambush, and fired a 
volley. Colonel Dahlgren quickly formed his troops to charge upon them, 
but fell mortally wounded. His troops dispei-sed, some to make their way 
to Kilpatrick, others to be taken prisoners. Colonel Dahlgren's body was 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 



29 



taken to Richmond, exposed to public view, and then buried. His father, 
by flag of truce, asked that it might be sent to him, but it was not given 
up. The Richmond papers publislied, with many bitter comments, what 
purported to be an address of Colonel Dahlgren to his soldiers, which, it 
was stated, was found upon his body. Tiie address, as read to the troops 
before they started, set forth the dangers and difficulties and objects of 
the expedition, together with di- 
rections for the good behavior of 
the troops, and also spoke of the 
lionor which would come to them 
if they were successful in releas- 
ing their comrades from prison. 
The address as published contained 
a sentence setting forth tliat they 
were " to destroy the hateful cit}" 
and not allow the Rebel leader 
Davis and his traitorous crew to 
escape." 

General Lee sent a flag of 
truce to General Meade, asking if 
he, or General Kilpatrick, or the 
authorities at Washington, had au- 
thorized a course of action so con- 
trary to the rules of war. General 
Meade replied that no such order 

had been authorized, and General Kilpatrick said that he had read tlie 
address before Colonel Dahlgren started, and that it contained no such 
language, but that the obnoxious words had been interpolated. Notwith- 
standing this disavowal, photographs of the address were sent to the Con- 
federate agents in England, who stirred up the English newspapers to 
write editorials to make the people of England believe that Abraham Lin- 
coln and the officers of the Union army were little better than savages. 

The cavalry under General Custer, moving from Madison Court-house, 
reached the Rivanna River near Charlottesville, and came upon some 
Confederate artillery so suddenly that they captured several caissons 
which the Confederates could not take away in their swift retreat. The 
caissons were blown up and the battery wagons destroyed. A train of 
cars loaded with Confederate infantry came from General Lee's army at 
Gordons ville, and General Custer found it necessary to retreat. He re- 
crossed the Rivanna, burned the bridge, and a large mill which was grind- 




ULTIICH DAHLGREN. 



30 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

inof corn for the Confederate army. lie recrossed tlie Raijidan without 
having lost a man, accompanied by a large nnmber of colored people, 
some of whom had been ploughing, but who, the moment they saw the 
Union troops, unharnessed the horses from the ploughs, mounted them, 
and without stopping to say good-bye to their masters, improved the 
opportunity to gain their freedom under the proclamation of Abraham 
Lincoln. 

The expedition had failed, but officers and men had obtained infor- 
mation in regard to the country which would be valuable in the great 
campaign soon to begin. It is quite probable that had General Kilpat- 
rick moved with all his force iti the direction taken by General Dahlgren 
he would have entered Richmond, for the fortifications on that side were 
not so strong as on the north and east. If Dahlgren had not been taken 
out of his direct course by the guide, it would seem that he might have 
entered the city, for the force that confronted him readied the fortifica- 
tions only a few minutes before he made his appearance. 

In narrating the events in chronological order, we turn once more 
to the west. 

The Confederate cavalry commander. General Forrest, planned a move- 
ment which he intended should offset what Sherman had been doing — a 
movement from northern Mississippi, northward through \yest Tennessee 
and Kentucky to the Ohio River. Three regiments of Kentuckians, 
which had been serving as infantry, joined him. They were young men 
who, though the people of the State refused to secede from the Union, 
liad cast in their lot with the Confederacy. They were good horsemen, 
accustomed to the saddle. General Forrest's troops were from Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. Many of the vol- 
unteers in his ranks were ruffians, who delighted in the freedom of the 
cavalry over the infantry, the opportunities for plunder. They were 
reckless of their own lives, and ready to shoot men upon the least prov- 
ocation, Tliey hated the negroes who had enlisted under the Stars and 
Stripes. 

The Confederate cavalry commander was born on the banks of Duck 
River, in Tennessee. He began life as a poor boy. Before the war he 
sold slaves in Memphis, had accumulated money rapidly, owned a great 
cotton plantation and many slaves. His yearly cotton crop was more 
than one thousand bales. He had advocated secession, and when the war 
began enlisted as a private; but he was known to be a man of inflexible 
will, with great energy and force. He was tall, had a dark, swarthy coun- 
tenance, dark, searching eyes, and black hair. Governor Harris, of Ten- 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. ■ 33 

nessee, sent for him in Jnlj, 1S61, and commissioned him as colonel of 
cavalry. lie went to Kentucky, where he was well known, and gathered 
the hot-l)looded young men into the Confederate service. He was in 
command of the cavalry at Fort Donelson, in 1862, when that fortifica- 
tion was invested by General Grant, and escaped with his command by 
fording a creek. He had rendered great service to the Confederacy, and 
liad been commissioned as lieutenant-general by Jefferson Davis. He 
was bold, brave, and self-reliant. His acquaintance with the country, the 
roads, and fording-places in the rivers gave him great advantage over the 
Union commanders. He moved rapidly, made long marches, pouncing 
suddenly upon small detachments of Union troops, capturing wagon- 
trains loaded with supplies, living upon the country. He was harsh in 
discipline. When the Conscription law was passed by the Confederate 
Congress, sweeping into the army all between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-five, he sent out bodies of troops and gathered in a large number of 
men, who, if unwilling to enter the Confederate service, were handcuffed 
and compelled to leave their homes. Thousands of men were ruthlessly 
torn from their families and driven into the ranks. It is not strano-e that 
some of them improved the first opportunity to desert. Nineteen de- 
serted in a body,* but were pursued, captured, Ijronght back in chains to 
Forrest's headquarters at Oxford, Mississippi. This the scene as pict- 
ured by General Forrest's eulogist : " Their coffins were made ready, 
their graves dug, and the men advised to make their peace with their 
Maker and the world. The women of Oxford and the ministers, hearing 
that the men were to be shot, pleaded that they might be spared. Some 
of the officers remonstrated, and said that they feared a mutiny if he per- 
sisted. The men were blindfolded and seated upon their coffins, and the 
soldiers who were to shoot them stood waiting for the command to fire.'' 
The command was not given. " On another occasion," writes Forrest's 
eulogist, "if the spirit of desertion had not been stayed, Forrest would 
have been inexorable, however disagreeable might be the duty to him."('') 
Such was the despotism of the Confederacy. Tennessee never had 
seceded from the Union by vote of the people. (See " Marching to Vic- 
tory," p. 36G.) The Governor, Isham G. Harris, without authority, had 
made a league with the Confederate Government, by which the State 
had been given over to the Confederacy. The despotic Government at 
Richmond had extended its power over the helpless people. Under the 
remorseless conscription, Forrest filled up his ranks and prepared for his 
movement. In a Southern paper we have this report of a speech made 
to his troops : 
3 



34: REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

" lie was inucli annoyed at Tupelo by tlie inconsiderate habit liis men 
liad of capturing the enemy by wholesale, and on one occasion, wlien he 
was firoiuff out on a tear, he delivered a short lecture on tlie art of war. 
' Now, boys, war means tight, and tight means kill. What's the use of 
taking prisoners, to eat your rations?' From that time there was a ma- 
terial falling off in the number of prisoners taken by Forrest's men."(") 

Forrest was in Mississippi, but moved to Corinth, and pushed rapidly 
from that point northward, sending a portion of his troops, under Colonel 
Duckworth, to Union City, in the north-western county of Tennessee, 
where there was a fortitication held by between four and five hundred 
Union troops, commanded by Colonel Hawkins. The Confederates sent 
out a messenger with a white flag, demanding the immediate surrender 
of the fort. The Union commander pleaded for delay, but at eleven 
o'clock in the forenoon complied with the demand. His force was nearly 
as large as that of the Confederates, and had he held out a short time he 
would have been reinforced by two thousand men on their way from 
Columbus. It was an ignominious surrendei'. (") 

General Forrest, with the main body of his command, appeared before 
Paducah, on the bank of the Ohio, at the junction of the Tennessee with 
that stream. The place was seized by General Grant in 
" ' * 1861, and had been held by the Union forces. A fortifica- 
tion had been erected, and named Fort Anderson, in honor of Maj. Robert 
Anderson, of Kentucky, who had gallantly defended Fort Sumter at the 
outbreak of the Rebellion. The Union troops, mimbering ^\Q^ one-third of 
whom were colored, were commanded by Col. S. G. Hicks, who had been 
in the thick of the fight at Shiloh, and who was Avounded in that battle. 
He was a veteran of a temper far different from that of the officers who 
had surrendered at Union City. Two small gunboats, the Pawpaw and 
Piosta, commanded by Lieutenants Shirk and O'Neil, were lying in the 
river. 

Most of the people of Paducah, from the outbreak of the war, had 
sympathized with the Secessionists. In 1861, and the spring of 1862, 
they had heard far away the thunder of heavy cannon at Fort Henry and 
at Columbus, but the tide of battle till that hour never had surged around 
their homes. Now, like the sudden coming on of the summer rain, rifles 
were cracking in the streets, as Forrest's three brigades, between four and 
five thousand cavalrymen, dashed into the town. One of his brigade com- 
manders was Gen. N. P. Thompson, who, when the war began, was prac- 
tising law in Paducah, and whose home was there, the citizens were his 
friends and old-time acquaintances. Kentucky had not seceded from the 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 37 

Union, but he had cast aside all allegiance to his State and to the Stars 
and Stripes, to assist in establishing a Confederacy based on slavery. The 
battle began, the Confederates dismounting froin their horses and shelter- 
ing themselves in the houses. There was a lull for a few moments as a 
Confederate officer, with a white flag, bore this message towards Fort x\ii 
derson-. 

"Colonel, — Having a force amply suflicient to carry your works and 
reduce the place, in order to avoid unnecessary effusion of blood, I de- 
mand the surrender of the fort and troops, with all public property. If 
you surrender you shall be treated as prisoners of war; but if I have to 
storm your works you may expect no quarter.('°) 

" N. B. Forrest." 

No other Confederate commander, diiriug the war, appended such a 
threat to a summons to surrender — a threat common in by-gone days, but 
not under the civilization of the nineteenth century. 

This the reply of Colonel Hicks: "If you want the fort take it." 

While the flag of truce was flying, the Confederate sharp-shooters made 
their way along the streets to a 4")osition whence they could fire upon the 
gunboats and upon the fort. 

When it was known that the Confederates were approaching the town, 
and that a battle would be fought, the church bells had been tolled, and 
the women and children hurried down to the river- bank, and thence 
Avere ferried to the Ohio shore. The Confederates took possession of the 
houses and fired from the chamber windows which overlooked the fortifi- 
cation, whereupon the gunboats sent shells crashing through the houses, 
setting them on fire. 

General Thompson, who had come to his old home to fight for the 
Confederacy, was torn to pieces by a cannon-shot. The Union cannon 
swept the streets with grape and canister; several times the Confederates 
charged upon the fort, but were repulsed with great loss. Through the 
afternoon the contest went on ; when night came, the Confederates, under 
cover of the darkness, helped themselves to whatever suited their fancy in 
the deserted houses. They set the buildings containing Government sup- 
plies on fire. Other buildings were burned by the order of Colonel Hicks 
— those near the fort which had furnished shelter to the sharp-shooters. 
Many of the best houses were thus destroyed. 

Morning dawned, and General Forrest sent out a flag of truce, asking 
for an exchange of prisoners ; he wished to give up those captured at 



38 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Union Cit}^ in excliange for Confederates. Colonel Ilicks replied tliat. he 
had no anthority to make an exchange. A steamboat arriv^ed from Cairo, 
bringing reinforcements. The attempt to captnre the place had failed. 
During the night the Confederates disappeared, leaving the dead where 
they had fallen. 

It is sad to know that men in all ages have hated, despised, and op- 
pressed those who were weaker than themselves. We respect those who 
are our equals in physical strength and in intellect; but, to our dishonor, 
we sometimes look down upon those who occupy a less exalted position. 
Through by-gone centuries the white race has robbed and oppressed the 
negro and Indian. AVe ai"e to keep ever in mind tlie fact that the war was 
begun by the Secessionists for the perpetuation of slavery ; that slavery, 
as declared by Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, was the corner-stone of the Con- 
federacy. Every soldier in the service of the Confederacy was fighting to 
maintain slavery as an institution. Before the war learned men, lawyers, 
ministers of the gospel, doctors of divinity, presidents of colleges, had 
maintained that it was a beneficent institution, ordained by Almighty God 
for the mutual welfare of the Anglo-American and African races. We 
need not wonder, therefore, that the enrolling of negroes who had been 
slaves, emancipated by Abraham Lincoln, as soldiers of the Republic, 
aroused the hatred of the slave-holders to the race whom they had op- 
pressed ; or that out of it came a teri-ible tragedy, which I do not like to 
write about; but Avere I to omit it, this story of the war would be incom- 
plete — a scene so horrible and ghastly that I am sure every one who sup- 
ported the Confederacy wishes it could be obliterated forever from the 
memory of men. What I am about to write is the truth of history. 

On the east bank of the Mississippi, in Tennessee, stood Fort Pillow, 
erected by the Confederates in 1861, and greatly strengthened by General 
Beauregard in 1862, but abandoned when that commander evacuated Cor- 
inth, after the battle of Shiloh. In the fortifications were 557 men, of 
whom 262 were negroes. Maj. L. F. Booth commanded. 

It was the anniversary of the beginning of the war at Fort Sumter. 
Through the night rain had fallen. Daylight was dawning when the pick- 
ets in the woods east of the fortification saw a Confederate 

April 12, 1864. „ , . „ , ,/-(.• o -.i ' 

force approaching. 1^ orrest s command, Captain Smith s 
company, of Missouri cavalry was in advance, guided by a citizen who 
lived near b}', and who knew just where the pickets were stationed. The 
Confederates stole softly through the woods, and came so suddenly upon 
the pickets that all, except one, were captured. (") The one who escaped 
gave the alarm. The drums began to beat the long roll, and the soldiers 



pM|jif;iW!ini»i|iiifi* 







OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 41 

sprang from their tents and log-hnts, quickly formed, and rushed to tlie 
breastworks. There were two 10-pounder Parrott-guns, two 12-pounder 
howitzers, and two 6-pounder rifled cannon. The Confederates dismount- 
ed from their jaded horses and advanced ; McCulloch's brigade from the 
south, Bell's brigade from the north. The artillery on both sides opened 
lire together with the Confederate sharp-shooters. Tlie Confederates 
numbered several thousand. At nine o'clock Forrest arrived. He had 
ridden seventy-two miles during twenty-four hours. Soon after his ar- 
rival the Union commander. Major Booth, was killed, and the command 
devolved upon Major Bradford. The gunboat Neio Era was lying in the 
Mississippi, and sent its shells up the ravine south of the fort, firing, 
during the forenoon, two hundred and eighty-two rounds of shell, shrap- 
nel, and canister, which, with the fire from the fortifications, kept the 
Confederates at bay. 

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Forrest had failed in his attempt 
to surprise the fort, and sent out Captain Goodman with a flag of truce, 
bearing a letter. This the communication : 

" As your gallant defence of the fort has entitled you to the treatment 
of brave men, I now demand an unconditional surrender of your force ; at 
the same time assuring you that they will be treated as prisoners of war. 
I have received a fresh supply of ammunition, and can easily take your 
position. 

"N. B. F0EREST."('*) 

Major Bradford asked for an hour's delay to consult with the captain 
of the gunboat. " Twenty minutes will be given you," M-as the reply of 
the Confederate commander. " I will not surrender," was the answer sent 
by Major Bradford. 

These are brief sentences, but while the parleying was going on, had 
we been there we should have seen, as the Union troops saw, a body of 
Confederates from McCulloch's brigade advancing through a ravine south 
of the fort, and taking possession of the Government buildings, in which 
were qnarterniaster's and commissary stores, and firing upon the steamboat 
Olive Branch in the river, on board of which were some unarmed Union 
soldiers on their way from New Orleans to Cairo, together with passen- 
gers, among whom was General Shepley. The Olive Branch could ren- 
der no assistance to the garrison, and passed on towards Cairo. 

"While the flag of truce was flying there was bantering and jeering 
between the Confederates and those within the fort, the Confederates 



42 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

makinir tlieir calculations the while for assaultino; the fortifications. We 
see a bugler riding to the top of a knoll, whence he can look over all the 
field, and where every Confederate along the lines can see him.('^) He 
i-aises the bugle to his lips, and a bkist long and loud rings out upon the 
air. In an instant tlie Confederate carbines and muskets flame, some of 
them within thirty feet of the ditch outside the fort. The sharp-shooters 
aimed at the Union officers, nearly all of whom were shot down in a few 
minutes, when the Confederates on the south side, who, under cover of 
the flag of truce, had selected their positions, rushed over the embank- 
ment. The Union troops fought desperately a few moments, but, out- 
numbered ten to one, with no officer to direct them, threw down tlieir 
guns in token of surrender, or else fled towards the river. The butchery 
began. This the report of the committee of Congress, gathered from 
the sworn testimony of those who survived the massacre : 

" The Rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter, sparing neither 
age nor sex, white nor black, soldiers nor civilians. . . . Men, women, and 
children, wherever found, were deliberately shot down, beaten, and hacked 
with sabres ; some of the children, not more than ten years old, were 
forced to stand up and face their murderers while being shot. The sick 
and wounded were butchered without mercy, the Rebels even entering 
the hospital building, dragging them out to be shot, killing them as they 
lay there unable to offer the least resistance. . . . Some were shot while in 
the river ; others on the bank w^ere shot and their bodies kicked into the 
water, many, of them still living but unable to make any exertions to 
save themselves from drowning. Some of the Rebels stood on the hill- 
side, called the Union soldiers to them, and as they approached shot 
them in cold blood. . . . All who asked for mercy were answered by the 
most cruel taimts and sneers. . . . The huts and tents in which many of 
the wounded had sought shelter were set on fire both that night and 
the next morning while the wounded were still in them. . . . Some of 
those seeking to escape the flames were brutally shot or had their brains 
beaten out. . . . The deeds of cruelty ceased at night only to be renewed 
the next morning ; any of the wounded yet alive Avere deliberately shot. 
. . . Some of the living were buried, but succeeded in digging themselves 
out. . . . Three hundred were murdered in cold blood." (°°) 

Major Bradford, who succeeded to the command of Fort Pillow after 
the death of Major Booth, was from Tennessee. From the beginning of 
the war he had been loyal to the flag of liis country. AVhile the small 
body of white prisoners were on the march towards Jackson, after the 
fort liad been captured, an officer and five soldiers took him a short dis- 



OPENING OF THE YEAR 1864. 



43 



tance into the woods. He begged for his life, but they gave no heed to 
liis pleading, and he fell pierced by three balls. (/") It is said that Avhen 
General Forrest saw that the Union men were being shot down, he issued 
orders against it ; but if such orders were given, they were not heeded 
by his soldiers. 

Nearly all of the white Union soldiers Avere from Tennessee, as were 
many of the Confederates. Men who had been friends before the war 
were now enemies. The animosity of the Confederates towards the Union 
men had been intensified by the events of the war; and wlien they found 
themselves masters of the fort, they lost all sense of mercy and humanity, 
and became brutal, cruel, and relentless. I drop the curtain upon the 
ghastly scene. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER I. 

' ) E. A. Pollard, " Lost Cause." p. 478. 

-) .J. W. Avery, " History of Georgia," p. 658. 

3) J. B. Jones," "A Rebel War Clerk's Diary," vol. ii., p. 123. 

') Idem, p. 125. 

*) Richmond Examiner, .January 2, 1864. 

^) "Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. i., p. 419. 

') Idem. 

") "Rebellion Record," vol. viii., p. 470. 

®) "Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Siierman," vol. i., p. 422. 

"•) Gen. Q. A. Gillmore's Order, " Rebellion Record," vol. viii., p. 403. 

" ) Gen. Truman Seymour's Letter, " Rebellion Record," vol. viii., p. 409. 

'^) "Rebellion Record." vol. viii. p. 409. 

'^) "Campaigns of Lieut.-gens. Forrest, .Jordon, and Pryor," p. 384. 

'^) C/iaiiesto'ii Mercun/, April 14, 1864. 

'^) "Rebellion Record," vol. viii., p. 49. 

"') "Campaigns of Lieut.-gens. Forrest, Jordon, and Pryor," p. 411. 

") Idem, p. 425. 

'8) Idem, p. 433. 

'») Idem, p. 436. 

■•") Congressional Report — Conduct of the War. 

■') "Rebellion Record," vol. viii., p. 4. 



44 REDEEMLNG Till: liEl'UBLIC. 



CHAPTEE II. 

RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 

^r^HE southern lialf of Louisiana is unlike any other section of tlie 
-■- United States ; you can traverse a very large poi'tion of it in boats 
along rivers, creeks, bayous, and lakes, amid groves of oak and palmetto 
and thickets of cane, with here and there large reaches of open fields. 
One of the great tributaries of the Mississippi is the Red River, which 
rises in the far-off mountains of New Mexico, runs east till it touches 
Arkansas, then turns south-east, and with many windings runs past Shreve- 
port, then the landing-place of Grand Ecore, four miles from Alexandria, 
and makes its way to the Mississippi, between Port Hudson and Natchez. 

Were we to take a steamer at New Orleans and go down-stream and 
out on the ocean westward, we should come to the Atchafalaya River, np 
which we might go when the spring floods were on, and emerge into the 
Mississippi just below the mouth of the Red River. Passing still farther 
west, to the Sabine, which forms the western boundary of the State, we 
might go up almost to Shreveport. The country is fertile. There are 
great sugar plantations along the coast, the cane changing to cotton far- 
ther inland, and the oak giving place to the pine. 

During the first two years of the war the Confederate armies east 
of the Mississippi received large supplies of food from the Red River 
region. The capture of Yicksburg, however, put an end to that. The 
gunboats patrolled the river. Troops could cross in small parties, but 
corn and sugar were bulky, and could not be readily ferried across the 
stream. After the opening of the Mississippi the Union troops west of 
it might have been withdrawn and used otherwheres, but the authorities 
at Washington acted on the idea that a section of country once occupied 
must be held. 

It was in this region in the spring of 1864 that what is known as the 
Red River Expedition was undertaken. In most histories of the war it is 
claimed that the expedition was necessary to re-establish the authority of 
the United States in north-western Texas. At the bei^innini:: of the war 



RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 47 

and througli the first months tlio authorities at Washington were anxious 
to have the old flag waving in every State of the Union, Thej thought 
that it would show to England and France that the jSTorth was in earnest, 
and that tlie Union people still remaining in the South would rally around 
it. Hence the desire to have it waving in Texas. 

General Halleck, at Washington, believed that the true policy for the 
Government to pursue, was to occupy all the territory wrested from tiie 
Confederates, and re-establish the authority of the United States. By 
adopting that plan a large number of soldiers must needs be employed in 
holding the important towns in Arkansas. 

The Government at Washington was desirous of occupying the whole 
country west of the Mississippi for several reasons. When the full history 
of the war shall be written, it will be seen that Louis Napoleon, Emperor 
of France, who had established Maximilian of Austria on the throne of 
the Montezumas in Mexico, was very anxious for the success of the Con- 
federates ; that he desired to overthrow republican institutions. JSTot only 
that, but while he hoped to see the Confederate Government established, 
he wished also to see the State of Texas secede from the Confederacy and 
establish a government of its own.(') If the great Republic could be 
broken to pieces it would be all the easier for him to carry out his plans 
in Mexico. The Government of the United States therefore wished to 
see the Stars and Stripes waving once more in Texas. It was known that 
there were many Union people in Texas and Louisiana who had been 
driven from their homes, and who were hiding in swamps to save tliem- 
selves from conscription. 

There were commercial reasons for a military movement west of the 
Mississippi. We are to remember that cotton was worth sixty cents a 
pound in Boston and Liverpool. Never before had it been wortli so much. 
The cotton-mills of New England — of Lowell, Manchester, and Fall Kiver 
— were for the most part idle. Across the Atlantic, in Old England, the 
wheels had ceased to whirl, and a silence like that of Sunday had settled 
over the manufactories of Oldham and Rochdale. Thousands of spinners 
and weavers were begging bread, or were fed by the magistrates. In the 
Red River region there was stored three years' crops of cotton worth sixty 
cents in Boston — not worth a cent where it was. 

The Confederate Government had obtained a large amount of money 
in England for the purchase of arms, ammunition, and military supplies, 
and for the construction of the Alabama war-ship, and for the building of 
iron-clad w^ar-vessels, which was to be paid for in cotton. By getting pos- 
session of the cotton all the mills in the North would be set to work, and 



48 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

tlio needs of the country supplied. There was innch correspondence be- 
tween General Halleck in Washington, Generals Banks, Sherman, and 
Grant, and Steele, who was at Little Eock, in Arkansas. Arrangements 
were made by which Sliei-man, who was at Memphis, was to lend Banks 
Gen. A. J. Smith's division of ten thousand men. General Steele was to 
march south-west and join Banks at Shreveport, or at least was to co-oper- 
ate by a demonstration in tliat direction. Admiral Porter was to co-operate 
with a fleet of gunboats up the Red River. It would not be quite correct 
to say that the expedition was planned solely to obtain cotton. That was 
what the speculators particularly had in view, but they were loud in their 
advocacy of the re-establishment of the old flag once more in that section. 
They knew that if that were done there would be a rich harvest for some- 
body, and they would take good care to be the somebody. 

Before the expedition started, two men (Mr. Butler, of Illinois, and Mr. 
Casey, of Kentucky) came to Admiral Porter and General Banks with an 
order from President Lincoln, directing all persons in authority, military 
or naval, to grant them all facilities in going where they pleased. Admiral 
Porter indorsed the order, as did General Banks. Other speculators had 
been bringing out cotton from the country west of the Mississippi before 
the starting of the expedition, carrying on a surreptitious trade, as we learn 
from Captain Breeze, of the navy, who says : " These cotton speculators 
had charts of the country, with every parish and township in the State 
marked off, with the amount of cotton in each, where it was stored, the 
marks upon it, and everything about it. Many of the speculators would 
come and give information concerning these things, in the hope that we 
would take some that they claimed as their own, so that they could present 
their claims in court. The cotton taken by the navy was sent to the court, 
and if they could present their claims they stood a fair chance of having 
them allowed. A large number of speculators came on the steamer Black, 
Kawlc, with a large quantity of bagging and roping, which was landed and 
hauled to Alexandria, where they purchased a large number of bales." 
What became of the cotton purchased there we shall see by-and-by. 

A great deal of cotton was seized along the river by the officers of the 
navy, which was sent up the Mississippi to Cairo, where a judge decided 
as to its value and what should be done with it. We are to remember that 
the Confederate Government was dealing in cotton, receiving it for taxes, 
sending it to England — the English blockade -runners slipping past the 
Union fleets at night, and returning with arms and supplies. All through 
the Southern States there were piles of cotton gathered by the tax col- 
lectors, and labelled " C. S. A." Such cotton when captured was known 



RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 



49 



as prize cotton, and tlie officers of the navy, under the laws, were entitled 
to a share in it, which naturally made them very vigilant. 

It was an easy matter for a speculator to get word to an officer where 
cotton might be found, which would be seized and sent to Cairo; but 
when the matter came before the judge it was just as easy for the specu- 
lator to appear and testify that it was his own property, and that the 
Confederate Government never owned it. No one will ever know the 
true history of the cotton business ; but this much may be said, that the 
administration of affairs in the Department west of the Mississippi w^as 
very loose. There was a great deal of trading between the people on both 
sides, and it is possible that some of the Union officers improved the op- 
portunity to make money in ways not wholly legitimate. 




MAP OF THE IIKU lUVtU EXPEDITION. 



The troops under General Banks were in lower Louisiana. General 
Franklin, who had been under McClellan and Burnside in the Army of the 
Potomac, was in immediate command, with orders to march from Ope- 
lousas northward to Alexandria, which was to be the rendezvous. Usual- 
ly in winter the Red River has a flood pouring into the Mississippi, but 
now it was very low ; there had been no great rains ; the snow had not 



50 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

melted on tlie far-away mountains. Not till there was a rise could the 
large gunboats go beyond Grand Ecore, just above Alexandria ; nor 
could the river steamers transporting the supplies go beyond that point. 
There were ten gunboats and more than thirty river steamers. The Marine 
Brigade, under General Ellet, numbering three thousand, was needed at 
Memphis, and returned. It had no wagons, and General Banks had none 
to give it. 

General Banks intended to move along the south bank of the river to 
Shreveport, while the fleet made its way up the stream. The water being 
so low, he was obliged to change his plan and establish his base of sujiplies 
at Alexandria. He was obliged to leave Grover's division of three thou- 
sand at Alexandria to guard the supplies, so that when the army was 
ready to march the force was much less tlian that which General Banks 
expected to have. But he did not expect to encounter the Confederates 
till after reaching Shreveport. General Franklin, next in command, was 
very positive that the Confederates would not show themselves, forgetting 
the wise saying, " Never underrate your enemy." Many a battle has been 
lost by not heeding the maxim, " Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.''' 
One never can tell in military matters just what an opponent will do. It 
is not like a game of chess. There are more factors, more points to be 
kept in mind. In war one must exercise common-sense, and just because 
General Eranklin did not exercise it the expedition met with disaster, as 
we shall see. 

Gen. E. Kirby Smith was commander of the Confederate troops west 
of the Mississippi. His forces were widely scattered. A portion were 
with him confronting General Steele, near Little Rock. General Taylor 
was on the Bed River, General Polignac, a French officer, who had crossed 
the Atlantic to fight for the Confederates, was on the west bank of the 
Mississippi, between Vicksburg and Natchez. General Walker's division 
was in Texas. General Smith knew from his spies, who kept him informed 
of all that was going on at Little Rock and Vicksburg, that a movement 
was to be made by the Union army. 

These spies were acquainted with every creek and bayou, and could 
make their way through the lines at night without detection. When Gen- 
eral Taylor learned that the expedition was fitting out, he sent in every 
direction for troops, gathering all the isolated bodies, concentrating them 
at Shreveport. They came from Texas and Arkansas. In a short time 
he had an army as large as that under Banks advancing from Alexandria. 
He sent his cavalry out to skirmish with the Union cavalry, with instruc- 
tions to fall back towards Shreveport. He determined to make a stand 



RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 51 

in Louisiana, for the reason that if he were to retreat to Texas the Lou- 
isiana troops would leave hiui in disgust. 

General Banks had five brigades of cavalry and mounted infantry un- 
der General Lee, with the Second Massachusetts Battery (Captain Nims), 
and Battery G, Fifth United States. The infantry consisted of the Tliir- 
teenth Corps, commanded by General Ransom ; Cameron's and Lan- 
dram's divisions, Emory's division of the Nineteenth Corps, and detach- 
ments of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps, under Gen. A. J. Smith; 
also a brigade of colored troops. 

On the morning of March 12th the gunboats, followed by transports, 
entered the Red River. On the 13th the troops landed at Simsport, and 
the next morning moved towards Fort De Rnssy. General Walker, 
commanding the Texas troops, left three hundred men to hold it, with 
eight heavy guns and two field -pieces; but General Smith's troops 
charged upon the fortifications, swarmed over the breastworks, and capt- 
ured the entire garrison. The gunboats found lines of piles driven across 
the channel of the river, with trees piled against them by the force of the 
current, but they soon removed the obstructions and reached the town of 
Alexandria on March 15th. The gunboats had been up to Alexandria in 
1863 ; but they were still three hundred and forty miles from Shreveport, 
by river, the point which they desired to reach. 

The water of the Red River is colored by the red ochre of the soil. 
The country between Alexandria and Shreveport is very fertile, and in 
1864 was regarded as the wealthiest and best-settled section of the State. 
The river is seven or eight hundred feet in width, flowing between high 
banks. Just above Alexandria are rapids, which cannot be passed by steam- 
boats when the water is low, and it was very low for the season in the 
spring of 1864. 

On April 3d the troops by land and the gunboats in the river reached 
Grand Ecore. These words are used by the Normans in northern France, 
and mean "high ground." Grand Ecore is four miles from Natchitoches, 
which is on the great road used by emigrants before the war when mov- 
ing to the plains of Texas. This road leads through the town of Mans- 
field, where General Tajdor was concentrating the Confederate troops. 

The road along which General Banks was marching runs north-west. 
Just south of the town of Mansfield another road leading from the Red 
River to the Sabine crosses it, running south-west. General Franklin was 
intrusted with the command during the march. He placed the cavalry 
and mounted infantry, about five thousand, in advance, with their supply- 
train of about three hundred and fifty wagons. This body of cavalry, with 



52 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

such a train, readied five miles. Then came the infantry and artillery, 
each brigade with its wagons, all on a single road through a dense forest. 
There were other roads farther north and south not so good, but which 
might hav^e been used. 

The Union cavalry, under General Lee, during the forenoon came to 
an elevation of land which is known as Pleasant Hill. Passing over the 
ridge and going on five miles, the skirmishers were fired 
' "^ ' upon by the Confederate cavalry under General Major. 
General Lee ordered up a regiment. The fire grew more brisk, and Lee 
put in a brigade. He ordered up the artillery, and finally drove the Con- 
federates, losing seventy-five men and capturing twenty-five prisoners. 

Passing over now to the Confederate side, we see General Green arriv- 
ing on the ground with a portion of his troops. General Taylor was at 
Mansfield, five miles away, when the skirmish opened, and he rode to 
the field. He met a party of demoralized soldiers and began to curse 
them. 

" General, if you won't curse us we will go back with you," said one. ('^) 
There was a rebuke in the words which won his respect, and instead of 
swearing, he smiled and bowed to the man, who, with his comrades, turned 
about and went back to the field. General Taylor examined the ground 
around the house of Mr. Wilson, selecting it as a strong position for a 
battle. There was an open field half a mile long and three-fourths of a 
mile wide. The road ran through it. On the eastern side of the field 
there were a forest of pines and a rail -fence. The road from the Red 
River to the Sabine crossed the Pleasant Hill road near the house of Mr. 
Wilson. It is three miles from Mansfield, where Taylor had concentrated 
his army. At nine o'clock in the evening he ordered his troops to be on 
the march at daylight. 

General Taylor knew that the Union army was strung out for a dis- 
tance of thirty miles on one road, and resolved to strike a staggering blow 
before it could be concentrated. 

Going back now to the Union side, we hear General Lee protesting to 
General Franklin against the presence of so many wagons at the front. 
General Franklin, on the other hand, says that they belong to the cavalry, 
and that Lee must keep them out of the way of the infantry. Lee asks 
Franklin for an infantry support, but not till General Banks is informed 
of the situation is any infantry ordered forward. This was the situation 
on the evening of the 7th : The Confederates concentrated and advancing ; 
the Union troops, a string thirty miles long, in a dense forest, with the 
cavalry and its wagons five miles in advance of the infantry. 



RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 00 

In the morning the Confederate troops nnder General Taylor were 
coming into line on the plantation of Mr. Wilson, at Sabine Cross-roads. 
He stationed Walker's division of three brigades on the 
' ^" ' ■ south side of the road leading to Pleasant Hill, with two 
batteries, and Mouton's division of two brigades on the north side, witli 
two batteries. The cavalry under Green swung out on Mouton's left, and 
De Bray's cavalry, with McMahon's battery, was placed in reserve. 

General Taylor says: "I had on the field 5300 infantry, 3000 horse, 
and 500 artillerymen ; in all, 8800 men — a full estimate. But the vicious 
dispositions of the enemy made me confident of beating all the force he 
could concentrate during the day, and on the morrow Churchill would be 
up with 4400 muskets." (^) 

General Lee, with the Union cavalry, moved on, but found himself con- 
fronted by the Confederate cavalry. He had seen enough to make him 
cautious, and waited for the brigade of infantry ordered up by General 
Banks. General Ransom had already sent Landram's, and followed with 
Vance's. Franklin, with the Nineteenth Corps, was at Carroll's Mills, five 
miles in rear of General Lee and the position chosen by the Confederates. 
He reached the mills, and at eleven o'clock halted his troops to build a 
bridge. As the cavalry, artillery, and Ransom's division had already 
crossed, one does not see the necessity of a halt at that hour or the need 
of a bridge. General Banks arrived. The booming of cannon five miles 
distant broke the stillness of the noontide hour. 

General Ransom, before the arrival of General Banks, had made dis- 
position of the troops. He was an able officer, and placed them judi- 
ciousl}^, but was greatly outnumbered. He had only two brigades of 
infantry — two thousand five hundred in all. Landram, with the Fort}'- 
eiglith. Eighty-third, Ninety-sixth Ohio, and Nineteenth Kentucky, was on 
the right. Nims's battery was on a low elevation, supported by the Twenty- 
third Wisconsin. The Sixty-seventh Indiana supported the battery on the 
left. The infantry on the left were the Seventy-seventh Illinois, Nine- 
teenth Kentucky, Forty -eighth, Eighty -third, and Ninety -sixth Ohio. 
When the Chicago Mercantile battery and Klaus's Indiana battery arrived 
they were placed on the ridge at the right of the road. 

General Ransom did not wish to bring on a battle, but waited for the 
coming up of Franklin to support him. Franklin, the while, was resting 
five miles away. The Confederate commander was getting impatient. 
He was waiting to be attacked. It did not suit his plan to rest quietly 
till Banks's troops were in position. The afternoon was wearing away, 
and he resolved to attack Ransom. 
4* 



54 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

General Banks does not seem to have comjsreliended the situation of 
affairs. He directed General Lee to move on towards Manslield. 

" You cannot move without bringing on a battle," was the rejDlj of 
Lee, and the order is countermanded. 

Four o'clock. Taylor will wait no longer. Looking now across tlie 
field on the east side of the road, the Union troops behold the Confeder- 
ates of Mouton's division advancing. First there is the ratthng fire of tlie 
skirmishers, then the thunder of the cannon, the screaming of the shells, 
and the yell of the troops. They are in two lines, and advance with con- 
fident expectations of sweeping all before them. Jt is a withering fire that 
bursts ujDon them from Landram's lines. A "murderous fire," Taylor calls 
it. Mouton is killed. There is a fearful slaughter of Confederate officers. 
Colonel Armand, of the Eighteenth Louisiana ; Colonel Beard, of the Cres- 
cent Regiment, and Walker, of the Twenty-eighth Louisiana, are killed ; 
also Colonel Koble, of the Seventeenth Texas. There are several company 
officers killed and wounded at the first volley. The front line melts like 
lead in a crucible in the glowing flame and white-heat of battle. It gives 
way and rolls back on the second line. Kallied by the officers, the troojDS 
advance once more, throw themselves upon the ground, and open fire. 

Going now across the road, we see the right of the Confederate line 
advancing upon the mounted infantry, extending far beyond it, and curl- 
ing round the fiank. 

" The mounted infantry are falling back," is the word which comes to 
Ransom. lie gallops across the field, confident that Landram will hold 
the right. The Chicago and Indiana batteries are just coming up. They 
come into position by Banks's headquarters and open fire upon the exult- 
ant Confederates, who are sweeping all before them on the west side of 
the road. The Eighty-third Ohio comes upon the run to support the artil- 
lery, but the left of the line is already turned ; the mounted infantry can- 
not stand against the force so greatly outnumbering them. Before the 
gunners of Nims's battery can bring up their limbers, the Confederates 
rush upon them, seizing the guns and pouring a destructive fire into the 
flank of Yance's brigade. Ransom sees that he must fall back, and orders 
Yance to take a new position, and sends word to Landram to retii-e. Cap- 
tain Dickey carries the order, informing the colonels of the regiments as 
he passes them, but before all are informed he is struck with a bullet. 
Some of the regiments retire ; others remain. There is increasing con- 
fusion. Going back to the edge of the timber, we see Ransom, Landram, 
Lee, Stone, and other officers trying to rally the men. A shell explodes 
among them, severely wounding Ransom, who is carried to the rear. 



RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 55 

General Banks rides along the lines, swinging his cap and trying to rally 
the disordered regiments, but the stampede has begnn. There is only the 
one road. The line has been pressed back to the wagons. The teamsters 
are panic-stricken: many of them are negroes. Some cut the horses 
loose, mount them, and ride away ; others abandon them and take to their 
heels ; some try to turn the teams, and thus block the road. Wagons tip 
over, and then there is kicking and rearing of mules. The mounted in- 
fantry try to make their way through the woods, and become mingled 
with the infantry, artillery, and wagons ; while crowding on, pouring in 
their fire, come the Confederates. It is an indescribable scene of confu- 
sion. Colonel Vance is killed and a large number of officers wounded. 
General Cameron assumes command of the Thirteenth Corps. 

It would be unjust to convey the idea that all the soldiers on the field 
were panic-stricken, or were going upon the run to the rear. On the con- 
trary, the veterans of the Thirteenth Corps rallied deliberately three-quar- 
ters of a mile in the rear, and for half an hour held the Confederates in 
check ; but the regiments were only skeletons now, and were obliged to 
fall back. It was a rich harvest of plunder which dropped into the hands 
of the Confederates — nearly all the wagons and supplies, and eight hun- 
dred mules and ten cannon. It had been a complete rout. 

The Confederates had swept all before the.m. It has been said by 
military commanders that nothing, after a defeat, so deuioralizes an army 
as a decisive victory where there is a great amount of plunder ; "and the 
disorganization of the Confederates began. The loss in killed and Avound- 
ed on their part had been very large. In the movement through the 
woods the lines had become disordered ; soldiers had left the ranks to 
secure plunder. Night was coming on, but Taylor, having got the Union 
men upon the run, determined to follow on and finish the victory. 

Through the closing hours of the day the thunder of battle had rolled 
over the forest to the ears of the men of Emory's division of the Nine- 
teenth Corps, and Franklin, in obedience to the order from Banks, had 
started. He had said there would be no fighting, but the battle, with 
disaster, had come. The troops were on the march, meeting the growing 
stream of fugitives. Franklin selected a position in the woods on the east- 
ern edge of the field, with Dwight's brigade on the road, Benedict's on 
the left, and McMillan's in reserve. A line of skirmishers was thrown out. 
Down the road and through the woods streamed the troops of the Thir- 
teenth Corps and the mounted infantry. Before the line was complete 
the battle began once more. The skirmishers were driven in. They fell 
back upon the uiain line, behind which the Thirteenth Corps was rallying. 



56 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

The last rays of tlie sun fell upon the two armies as the Confederates ad- 
vanced. "■ Reserve your fire till they are close up !" was the order. On 
came the men in gray, but the whole line burst into flame and they stag- 
gered beneath it. Again and again they attempted to break the line, but 
in vain. 

General Banks saw that the battle w^ould be renewed in the morning, 
and fell back to Pleasant Hill, selected a favorable position, brought up 
General Wright's troops, and prepared for the assault of the Confed- 
erates. Pleasant Hill is fifteen miles south of the Red River, on the 
road leading from Alexandria to Shreveport. There is a cluster of houses 
on the hill, which slopes gently towards the west. AVhile the thunder of 
battle was dying on the evening of the 8th of April, General Wright, 
with his troops, and Col. William H. Dickey, with a brigade of colored 
troops, arrived at the little village. During the night, the Thirteenth 
Corjjs, the wounded, and what was left of the wagon-train, arrived, fol- 
lowed by the Nineteenth Corps. 

Were we to go out north of the town we should follow a ravine, 
on which the right wing of the arm}' rested — D wight's brigade of the 
Nineteenth Corps. Then came McMillan's in the centre, with Benedict's 
on the left, in a ditch, the extreme left being in an open field. This was 
the first formation ; but before the battle began, McMillan was placed on 
the right and rear of Dwight, while Shaw's brigade was thrown into the 
place before occupied by McMillan, and a little in advance of the main 
line. The Twenty -fifth New York Battery was placed between Dwight 
and McMillan, on a hill, so as to sweep the open field with its fire. The 
line turned an angle, with Mower's brigade joining Benedict's facing 
south-w'est. At the angle were the Ninth Indiana Battery and Battery B, 
First United States, in position to cover the field in front. On the left 
of the line was the First Vermont Battery. Tlie Thirteenth Corps was 
placed in reserve. That the wagons might not be in the way, the trains 
were all sent toward^ Natchitoches, several miles in rear. 

During the night Taylor was reinforced by the arrival of Churchill's 
and Parsons's Arkansas and Missouri troops, about five thousand. He had 
the cannon captured at the battle of yesterday. It was four 
o'clock before the Confederates were in position. Taylor, 
flushed by his victory, made his dispositions quickly, sending Churchill 
round to attack from the south. The cavalry were to fall upon the Union 
left flank, double up Mower, and cut off Banks's retreat. General Walker 
was next in line, with Green's, Buchell's, and De Bray's cavalry on the left. 
Mouton's division, now commanded by Polignac, was held in reserve. 



RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 57 

Taylor intended to liave Churcliiirs and "Walker's divisions do the 
heavy work. His plan was to turn the left of the Union line, which, as 
we shall see, obstinately refused to be turned. He intended to conceal 
his plan by opening the battle on the Union right, and then make a ter- 
rific onslauMit on the other wingf. 

The battle began by a shot from the Confederate battery, the Val- 
verde, on the east side of the road, in front of Shaw's brigade. The 
Twenty-fifth New York Battery replied, but in a feeble way. The com- 
mander of the battery seems to have been scared at the outset, for he sud- 
denly limbered up his guns and started for the rear, leaving one gun and 
caisson in the road. 

General Buchell, commanding a brigade of Confederate cavalry, dashed 
on to secure it, but a volley burst from the muskets of the Fourteenth 
Iowa and Twenty-fourth JVCssouri, from men who had no thought of tak- 
ing to their heels. Horses and riders went down in a heap. Buchell was 
mortally wounded. The attack was repulsed. 

A moment later and Walker's division falls on Benedict's brigade to 
the left and partially in rear of Shaw, and at the same moment the Con- 
federates attack the extreme rio;ht of the Union line. Shaw is oblio;ed to 
fall back, and so is Benedict, but there is no panic. Every movement is 
in order except in Benedict's brigade, where some of the regiments are 
thrown into confusion. 

General Mower holds the left of the Union line. His troops are vet- 
erans who have fought on many fields ; they are fresh and vigorous. The 
Confederates advancing to attack them are Churchill's, who have made a 
long and wearisome march. Taylor expects them to turn the Union left 
flank, but his expectations are doomed to failure. Every attack is re- 
pulsed. Churchill can make no impression upon that solid line. His 
men are too weary and the line too compact and determined to be moved 
an inch from their chosen position. General Mower says : " The enemy 
advanced rapidly on my line, as though confident of success, but were 
repulsed by our troops, who withstood the charge with great firmness and 
repulsed them with great slaughter. The enemy made a stand at a ditch, 
which was about three-fourths of the width of the field from my original 
position." They lost largely in killed and prisoners here, and were, after 
a desperate resistance, driven back into the woods." (^) 

Mower, having repulsed the attack, advanced and drove Churchill. 
In the charge the Forty-ninth Indiana recaptured two of the cannon of 
Nims's battery lost on the preceding day. 

Night closes in with the Confederates repulsed and defeated, lines 



58 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

broken, regiments disordered. General Taylor says: "After order was 
restored, 1 ordered the infantry to fall back some six miles to water, as 
there was none to be found nearer. All the cavalry, except De Bray's 
division, was sent to Mansfield to feed and rest." 

During the night we have the spectacle of both armies retreating. 
General Taylor had been defeated and was out of ammunition. His army, 
at eight o'clock in the evening, was sadly demoralized. The Union army 
had won a signal victory. The troops were not demoralized, but General 
Banks seemingly had only one thought — to get back to Alexandi^ia. He 
ordered the troops to be silently withdrawn, the wounded to be gathered, 
and the surgeons to remain and care for them. At midnight the troops 
were moving towards Alexandria. The reasons for the retreat were that 
no water could be had ; that the provisions were nearly gone ; that it was 
necessary to connnunicate with the fleet to obtain ammunition. 

General Smith protested against retreating. He believed that the 
Confederates had been so thoroughly defeated that they would make no 
stand this side of Shreveport. It seems probable that a commander of 
nerve and energy could have made his way to Shreveport without diffi- 
culty after the battle of Pleasant Hill. This is to be said — nothing 
in particular was to be gained by going there. The only object of the 
expedition, so far as the Government was concerned, was to establish the 
old flag once more in that section of the country. The other part of the 
expedition was to get hold of the immense stores of cotton. But it would 
have been far better for Banks to have gone on than to have made an in- 
glorious retreat. The defeat of Taylor at Pleasant Hill would have dis- 
heartened the Confederates and put him on the defensive. He would 
have lost prestige as a commander and been forced back into Texas. The 
retreat of Banks made Taylor the lion of the hour, brought reinforce- 
ments to his ranks, and otherwise strengthened the Confederate cause. 

The Union army reached Grand Ecore and threw up fortifications. 
The water in the river was beginning to fall, and Admiral Porter saw 
that he must make haste or the fleet would be left upon the sand-bars or 
snags thickly strewn along the streams. 

The Confederates, instead of marching to Grand Ecore to attack the 
army, gave their attention to the gunboats, a portion of the troops, under 
General Liddell, crossing to the north bank, to fire from behind trees 
upon every person exposed upon the boats. Several of the transports, 
with horses and supplies on board, were accompanied by the gunboats 
Osage and Lexington. The Osage and one of the transports were 
aground, when the Confederates brought four cannon into position and 




CONFEDEKATES UNDEK GENEKAL GREEN. 



RED ElVER EXPEDITION. Gl 

opened fire, and a large body of Texans nnder General Green opened a 
musketry lire. The heavy cannon of the gunboats sent a storm of shells 
upon theui which did great execution. General Green was killed and his 
troops repulsed. The boats reached Grand Ecore, and thence began one 
by one to descend the river to Alexandria. The Confederates placed a 
torpedo in the river, which exploded under the Eastport^ opening a leak 
which stranded the boat. By great exertions the water was pumped out, 
and the vessel lioated but again grounded. Again and again the water 
was pumped out, and the vessel moved down-stream fifty miles. Admiral 
Porter, finding it so diflicult to keep the Kant port afloat, ordered her to 
be blown up. 

Just as the match was lighted, a large body of Confederates appeared 
upon the bank of the river and opened fire upon the gunboat Cricket, 
which was tied by a cable to a tree. Captain Gorringe, who was in com- 
mand, replied with grape and canister. 

It was an easy matter for the Confederates to move from one bend in 
the river to another, and place themselves in position to fire upon the 
boats, which, on account of the low water, could not move very rapidly. 
Just above the mouth of Cane River, the Confederates placed eighteen 
guns in position, to open fire upon the Cricket, the Juliet, and the Hind- 
man. All the other boats had passed the point. The Confederate cannon 
were well aimed. At the first round nearly all the gunners of the Cricket 
were killed or wounded, the chief engineer wounded, also all but one of 
the men in the fire-room. One gun was dismounted. The Juliet was dis- 
abled by a shot crashing into the engine. This gunboat was lashed to the 
pump-boat which had been used in pumping out the Eastport. A shot 
passed through its boiler, and nearly all the two hundred men on board 
were scalded by the escaping steam. The Juliet was being towed by an- 
other boat, the pilot of which in his fright abandoned the wheel, where- 
upon the junior pilot, Mr. Maitland, took his place and headed the boats 
up-stream till out of range. The Cricket, making ready once more, putting 
on steam, in charge of the admiral, swept past the Confederate guns under 
a terrific fire, being struck thirty-eight times in five minutes, and losing 
twenty-five killed and wounded — half her crew. Through the night the 
crew of the Juliet repaired that vessel, but not till the next afternoon 
were they ready to run the gantlet. When within five hundred yards, 
the Confederate cannon opened fire. A shot passed through the pilot- 
house of the Hindman, cutting the wheel-ropes, rendering the vessel un- 
manageable. The brave pilot, Maitland, was on the pump- boat, and had 
both legs mangled by a shell. A third shell cut away the bell-rope and 



62 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

speaking-tube leading to the engineer ; bnt thougli both legs were crushed, 
he reached out his hand to the other bell-cord, and gave a signal which 
took the vessel to the other side of the river. The captain had been 
killed. The crew leaped ashore and attempted to escape, but were capt- 
ured. The Juliet and Illndman both passed the batteries, but lost be- 
tween twenty and thirty men. 

Just above Alexandria are the rapids of Red River, and two rocky 
formations, upon which there was only three feet four inches of water, 
wdiereas the gunboats needed seven feet to float safely over the bowlders 
in the bed of the stream. Ten gunboats and two tugs were thus impris- 
oned at a season of the year when it was expected that all the low lands 
would be flooded by the water pouring down from the snows melting on 
the far-off mountain. AVhat should be done? 

It may be safely asserted that no armies ever marshalled surpassed in 
intelligence those which fought in the War of the Rebellion. In every 
reo:iment of volunteers were men who, though they never had received 
education in military engineering, were competent to accomplish great un- 
dertakings. In the army of General Banks there was a volunteer wdio, 
before the war, was building dams for the erection of mills upon the rivers 
in the State of Wisconsin, Col. Joseph Bailey, of the Fourth Regiment 
of Volunteers, from that State. He was acting as chief engineer under 
General Franklin, and informed that officer that he saw no great difficulty 
in getting the boats past the rapids. He would build a dam across the 
river, leaving only a narrow opening in the channel, thus deepening the 
water sufficiently to permit the passage of the boats. Those who knew 
nothing about building dams laughed at Colonel Bailey ; but Admiral Por- 
ter and General Banks and General Franklin thought it wise to make the 
attempt. Colonel Bailey was accordingly placed in charge, and given all 
the men he needed to carry on the work. 

In the army were two regiments from Maine. Before the war the 
men were employed on the waters of the Kennebec and Penobscot " driv- 
ing" logs from the forests to the mills near the sea. They understood 
rivers, the sweep and swirl of currents and eddies. They were wood- 
choppers as well, and laid aside their guns and knapsacks to become lum- 
bermen and rivermen once more. 

It is a mile and a quarter from the lower rapids to the upper, and in 
that distance there is a fall of thirteen feet. There was a forest of tall 
trees upon the northern bank, and there the wood-choppers began felling 
the trees into the stream, floating them to the head of the rapids. The 
first tree, with its branches, was laid against the bank, brush made into bun- 



2 I 




RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 65 

dies was placed upon it and weighted with stones, and earth shovelled in. 
Houses were torn down, trunks of trees were locked together in cribs as 
bojs in the country build houses of corn-cobs, the cribs floated into posi- 
tion, filled with stones, and the dam extended to them. Boats and barges 
were brought into requisition. Three thousand men and two hundred 
teams were kept at work night and day. The negro troops on the south 
bank were employed in constructing a dam from that side of the stream. 
The men from Maine made little noise while at work ; each man under- 
stood just what to do, and did it quietly. Very different the scene on the 
southern bank, where the enthusiasm of the men, who a few months be- 
fore were slaves, broke out in plantation song and chorus. 

When Colonel Bailey set forth his plan, very few men in the army be- 
lieved its execution possible ; but when the doubting ones saw the dams 
gradually growing from each bank into the stream their doubts gave place 
to enthusiasm, and the army watched with increasing interest the progress 
of the work. The Confederates learned of what was going on, and the 
pickets, with taunt and jeer, shouted to the Union men and asked, " How's 
your dam ?" The Confederates did not believe that the undertaking would 
succeed, and looked gleefully forward to the day when the imprisoned 
fleet would fall into their hands. At night great fires were kindled upon 
the banks to enable the men to go on with the work. On the eighth 
day there remained an opening of only one hundred and fifty feet. The 
water was rushing through M-ith increasing velocity. While the dam was 
under construction the crews of the iron-clads were lightening their ves- 
sels, removing the guns, ammunition, cables, anchors, and drawing them 
round the rapids. The iron plating was taken from portions of the ves- 
sels and tossed into the river where the water was deep, and where the 
shifting sands soon covered it. This was done to prevent the Confeder- 
ates from recovering it after the departure of the army. Some of the old 
32-pounder cannon which were considered of little account were loaded to 
the muzzle, burst, and sunk in the river. 

At last all was ready for closing the sluice-way of the dam. To ac- 
complish this, several coal -boats weighted with brick and stone were 
floated into the opening and sunk. Quickly the water began to rise. 
Those who watched the riv^er saw the rocks of the upper rapids a mile 
distant disappear beneath the rising flood, and then several of the vessels, 
one by one, passed safely over them. Not all had passed when those 
who stood by the dam saw that two of the barges were being swept out 
by the rising flood. Admiral Porter issues orders to the captain of the 
Lexington to run the rapids and drive on through the opening. The 
5 



66 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

engineer's bell tinkles, liis hand touches the throttle, the wheels turn, 
and the boat, moved by current and steam, sweeps on. The vessel plunges 
into the rushing torrent, masses of foam are tossed upon her deck. For 
a moment the rocks hold her ; then with majesty she moves on into the 
calm waters below, while the whole army rends the air with cheers. The 
Neosho^ Hindman., and Osage follow, but the water falls, the rocks reap- 
pear, before the others can pass, and they must bide their time. 

Stimulated by what has already been done. Colonel Bailey set himself 
to complete his task. The dam was at the lower rapids, and he saw that 
by building wing dams at the upper rapids he could bring all the water 
into one channel. Three days, and the work was done, the dams raising 
the water nearly seven feet, and allowing the boats, one by one, to pass 
safely to Alexandria, where guns and anchors were reshipped. In thirteen 
days from the beginning of the undertaking the entire fleet was on its 
Avay down the river, and the army keeping pace with the vessels in its 
return. Thus, by the experience, good-sense, and energy of Colonel Bailey 
was accomplished one of the most brilliant feats of engineering in modern 
times. The President, recognizing the value of what he had done, sent 
him a general's commission. Military engineers in Europe expressed their 
admiration at the success of the undertaking. 

A good deal of cotton had been gathered at Alexandria and at other 
jwints along the river, but much of it was burned by the soldiers ; and 
so the speculators, who had done much to bring about the movement, 
reaped little benefit from the campaign. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER II. 

(') Unpublished Documents of the Confederate Department of State. 
\'^) Gen. Richard Taylor, "Destruction and Reconstruction," p. 160. 
(3) Idem, p. 163. 
(^) General Mower's Report. 



THE GREAT COMMANDER. 67 



CHAPTER HI. 

THE GREAT COMMANDER. 

TTTIIEN the war began in 1861, Gen. Winfield Scott was lientenant- 
* * genera], and in connnand of all the troops of the United States ; 
but he was an old man, too far advanced in life and too feeble to have the 
direction of all the great armies which had been organized to put down 
the Rebellion. So, after the battle of Bull Run, in 1861, when the coun- 
try called for a leader (" Drum-beat of the Nation," chap, v.). General 
McClellan was placed in command of all the troops ; but when he began 
the movement to Richmond in 1862, President Lincoln relieved him from 
the general command, and called Gen. Henry W. Halleck to Washington 
to have direction of military movements. There had been so many fail- 
ures of enterprises through contradictory orders sent from Washington by 
General Halleck and the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, that the people 
and President Lincoln alike were dissatisfied with the state of affairs. 
Mr. Stanton assumed the right to issue orders. Those transmitted by tel- 
egraph were sent in cipher. Mr. Stanton controlled the telegraph and 
appointed operators, who alone could read the ciphers, which made them 
independent of the generals commanding a department. 

It was seen that there must be one directing mind — one man in author- 
ity to plan the movements, to issue orders, so that the troops in different 
sections of the country should move concertedly for the carrying out of 
his plans. There was one commander who, by the victories he had won, 
commended himself to the people as endowed with the qualities needful 
to direct military affairs — Ulysses S. Grant, who never had lost a battle, 
but who had won the victory at Behnont, Missouri, in 1861, Fort Donel- 
son and Shiloh, in 1862 ("Drum-beat of the Nation," chaps, vii. and ix.), 
who had opened the Mississippi by his strategy and siege operations, who 
had directed affairs at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge ("March- 
ing to Victory," chap. xxii.). When the war began he was a clerk in a 
store at Galena, Illinois, so quiet and unobtrusive that he had made the 
acquaintance of very few people in the town. He had been appointed 



G8 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

major-general by President Lincoln, but other major-generals outranked 
liim. That he uiight have supreme command, Congress, on February 26, 
1SG4, passed a law reviving the grade of lieutenant-general. President 
Lincoln never had seen General Grant, but he had great faith in him, and 
appointed him to tlie position formerly held by General Scott, which the 
Senate, on March 1st, confirmed, and the telegraph the next day informed 
General Grant that the President wished to see him in Washington, He 
was at Nashville, Tennessee. The people who rode with him in the cars 
little dreamed of what he was thinking — that he was laying a grand plan 
for the prosecution of the war. He saw that the country was divided into 
nineteen military departments, each with its independent commander re- 
ceiving orders from Washington ; that thus far the movements had not 
been made simultaneously ; that the different armies are like the balky 
horses of a team — not pulling together. Now that he is to have supreme 
command, he determined to have the armies move at the same moment. 
The troops were widely scattered ; he would have them consolidated. The 
theory of General Halleck and the War Department had been to hold all 
the conquered territory, and re-establish the authority of the United States. 
General Grant believed that the best way to re-establish the authority of 
President Lincoln was to crush out the authority of Jefferson Davis by 
force of arms ; that when the Confederate armies were wholly defeated 
there would be no difficulty in re-establishing the civil government. He 
saw that in Washington the uppermost idea had been to capture Rich- 
mond, the capital of the Confederacy. When the war began the cry 
throughout the country was " On to Richmond !" General McClellan 
moved down tlie Potomac and up to Yorktown and the Peninsula to lay 
siege to the city. In the estimation of General Grant, Richmond was of 
small account. He would plan his campaigns to strike the Confederate 
armies east and west at the same time. 

General Grant entered the Cabinet-room in the White House, and for 
the first time in his life met President Lincoln. The members of the 
Cabinet had assembled. General Halleck, to whom Grant 
• ' ' had been a subordinate, was there; also Mr. E. B. Washburne, 
of Galena, member of Congress, who had been instrumental in securing 
General Grant's appointment as lieutenant-general. Two of his staff and 
his eldest son accompanied him. It was a memorable scene, during the 
War of the Revolution, when President Washington received his commis- 
sion as Commander of the Continental Army ; and ecpially impressive 
this, in which the President of the people, born in a slave State, unedu- 
cated in the schools, who had issued the proclamation abolishing slavery, 



THE GREAT COMMANDER. 71 

presented to this man, who when the war began was an obscure clerk 
selling leather, his commission as commander of a million men in arms. 
These the words of the President : " General Grant, the nation's apprecia- 
tion of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains to 
be done in the existing struggle, are now presented with this commis- 
sion constituting you lieutenant-general in the army of the United States. 
With this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding responsi- 
bility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain 
you. I scarcely need add that with what 1 here speak for the nation goes 
my own hearty personal concurrence." The w^ords fell from trembling 
lips, so deep the feeling of the President. 

This the reply : '' Mr. President, I accept the commission, with grat- 
itude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies 
that have fought in so many fields for our common country, it will be my 
earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full re- 
sponsibilities now devolving on me ; and I know that if they are met it 
will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Providence 
which leads nations and men."(') 

" You will have entire control of the armies," said the President. It 
was a trust which had been conferred upon no other commander, and he 
assured General Grant that everything possible should be done to add to 
the efficiency of the armies. The Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, said 
the same. 

" I do not wish to know your plans," said Mr. Lincoln, who believed 
that the man who had won Donelson, rolled back the enemy at Shiloh, 
captured Vicksburg, and won the great victory at Chattanooga, would 
make wise plans for the future. (^) 

The next day General Grant was at Brandy Station, fifty miles from 
Washington, lookiniz; for the first time into the faces of the soldiers of 
the Army of the Potomac. He had seen what the Eleventh and Twelfth 
corps of that grand army could do, as they swept up the sides of Lookout 
Mountain, and he had the same confidence in the men of the East that 
he had in those of the West. 

Rain was falling, the mud deep, but General Meade was at the sta- 
tion to receive his old friend, whom he had last met on the battle-fields 
of Mexico, when they were lieutenants. 

The rumor was abroad that General Meade was to be removed ; that 
Grant intended to appoint a more active commander. 

General Meade was a true patriot. He took command of the army 
of the Potomac at Frederick three days before Gettysburg. Under him 



72 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

tlie army fought the great, decisive battle of the war, evermore a turning- 
point in history. He had rendered efficient service. He had not struck 
a blow which he might have given after that battle, but he had built up 
the army. He had foiled Lee in a movement upon Washington. He 
withdrew the troops from Mine Run, south of the Kapidan, when he saw 
that it would result in disaster. He was wise and prudent ; more than 
this, he was intensely loyal. 

" The emergency of the country is above all other considerations. 
Remove me at once without any delicacy, if it suits your plans," were 
the words of Meade. 

"I see no reason for displacing you," was the quiet reply. (') 

Alone the two commanders talked about the army, the country, roads, 
rivers, Lee's force, and the situation of the Union and Confederate armies. 

In the morning General Grant was on his way to Washington. Pres- 
ident Lincoln had arranged a dinner in his honor, but he could not stay 
to eat. He had no time for the reception of honor. He was thinking 
out a great plan. Were he to sit an hour or two at the presidential table 
to listen to the stories that would be told he would lose time, and it 
might break into his line of thought. He sent his respects to President 
Lincoln, stepped into the cars, and was whirling westward over the Alle- 
ghanies. While he was flying on the express train the lightning was 
bearing a despatch from him to General Sherman, who was at Memphis : 
"Meet me at Kashville." 

A man to be a great military commander must understand men. The 
country did not know much about General Sherman. He had com- 
manded a brigade in the first Bull Run battle, but won no particular 
distinction. Because he had seen the need for an army of two hundred 
thousand men in Kentucky at the beginning of the war, the idea was 
abroad that he was crazy. It was said that he was surprised at Shiloli ; 
that he failed at Chickasaw Bluffs. He had done efficient service under 
Grant at Jackson, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. General Grant had seen 
that he was the man who could be trusted to command in the West. 
General Halleck doubted if Sherman was the right man ; but President 
Lincoln desired that Grant should have his own way, and the oi'der which 
assigned him to command all the armies made Sherman commander of 
the military division of the Mississippi. 

Sherman arrived at Nashville. He wanted Grant to remain in the 
West and direct affairs. "You are at home here: the sol- 

Marcli 17, 1864. ,. , • ^ :i vi ^i A A 

diers know you ; you are acquainted with the ground ana 
with your officers," he said. 



THE GREAT COMMANDER. 73 

General Grant saw differently — that the army under Lee was the 
strongest of the Confederate armies ; that Lee was the ablest Confederate 
commander ; that the Confederate Government would sacrifice everything 
else to sustain the army which was to hold Richmond. The army under 
Lee must be crushed before the war could end. 

We are not to think that the fighting men of the Confederacy had 
all been gathered in before 1864:. On the contrary, the remorseless con- 
scription enforced during the winter months, which swept in everybody 
between eighteen and forty-five had filled up the Confederate ranks. The 
army under Lee never was more powerful than at that moment. Tlirough 
the months the Tredegar Works at Richmond had been running night and 
day, casting cannon, shot, and shell. Every vessel running the blockade 
brought arms and supplies from England. The Confederate Government 
was straining every nerve to make the armies as powerful East and West 
as when Lee moved to Gettysburg and Bragg to Chattanooga. 

The army which had been routed from Chattanooga was at Dalton, 
in northern Georgia, commanded by Josejjh E. Johnston. Bragg was at 
Richmond, advising the Secretary of War what to do. 

Grant's plan was for Sherman to move against Johnston ; for Banks 
to turn back from the Red River, make all haste to New Orleans, join 
General Canby, who was commanding tliere, sail to Mobile, get in rear 
of the city, capture the forts, which were garrisoned by less than four 
thousand men, and then march north, or steam up the Alabama River 
and threaten Johnston in the rear, while Sherman' pressed on from Chat- 
tanooga. 

He had a plan for the Army of the Potomac to strike at Lee's army ; 
while General Butler, who was at Fortress Monroe, was to make a quick 
move towards Richmond. 

The Ninth Corps was under General Burnside. It had returned from 
Tennessee, and was at Annapolis, in Maryland. No one could tell where 
it was going. Vessels in the harbor were supposed to be waiting to take 
tlie troops on board. General Burnside did not know whither he was go- 
ing. Secretary Stanton did not know. The newspaper correspondents 
said he was to sail for North Carolina. 

" I want an oSicer of fire and nerve, to command the cavalry," was 
Grant's remark to Halleck. 

" How would Sheridan do ?" 

"Just the man." 

The country had not heard of General Sheridan. Very few people 
knew that there was such an ofiicer. The correspondents in their narra- 



74 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

tives of the battles of Stone River and Missionary Eidge had given glow- 
ing accounts of the effective part taken by Sheridan's troops. From the 
beginning of the war he had .been commanding infantry. Now Grant pro- . 
posed to put him at the head of all the cavalry. During the years 1861 
and 1862 the Union cavalry had accomplished very little. It had been in 
driblets until Hooker consolidated it. The Confederates, at the beginning 
of the war, laughed at the awkw^ard riding of the Union cavalry. " Tlie 
people of the North do not know how to ride horses," they said. But they 
discovered at Brandy Station, in May, 1863, and at Gettysburg in June, 
and when Grierson rode through the length of the State of Mississippi, 
coming out at Baton Rouge, that the cavalrymen of the North were be- 
coming very efficient. 

Grant intended to make the cavalry a powerful arm of the service, and 
he wanted a commander, bold, fearless, quick to see and execute. He had 
seen Sheridan's division sweep the slopes of Missionary Ridge as an ocean- 
wave rolls up the pebbled beach, and Sheridan was the man to command 
the eleven thousand horsemen who were to protect his Hanks and trains, 
and be the eyes, ears, and wings of the army. 

Before the week was out General Grant was at Fortress Monroe, talk- 
ing with General Butler. 

"All the forces that can be spared from points along the coast will 
report to you. You are to move up the James, and seize City Point, 
making Richmond your objective point," were his orders to Butler. " Se- 
cure a footing as far up the river as possible." 

To General Halleck he wrote, "The army will start with fifteen days' 
rations." 

He was going to cut loose from Washington. He knew that if lie 
attempted to keep the railroad open it would require several thousand 
men to protect it. He would reopen communication whenever necessary. 

I was in Washington on the last days of April, I heard the drum beat 
and beheld a long column of troops passing down Pennsylvania Avenue. 
Unheralded, the Ninth Corps had marched from Annapolis. The veteran 
regiments which had seen service in North Carolina and Tennessee had 
full ranks once mere. There was a division of colored troops. It was an 
army of nearly thirty thousand men. So well had General Grant kept his 
own counsel that even General Burnside knew nothing positively as to 
his destination till the order came for him to break camp and make a 
rapid march through Washington and join the Army of the Potomac. 

I copy from my note-book the words written as I saw them pass : 

" The bright sunshine gleams from their bayonets. Above them wave 



THE GREAT COMMANDER. 75 

their standards tattered by the winds, torn by cannon-ball and rifle-shot, 
stained by the blood of dying heroes. They are priceless treasures, more 
beloved than houses, or lands, riches, honors, ease, comfort, or wife, or 
children. Ask the battle-scarred soldier what he loves best on earth, and 
he will have but one answer — ' The flag ! the dear oW flag !' It is his 
pillar of fire by night and cloud by day ; the symbol of everything worth 
living for, worth dying for. 

" I see upon those banners as they flutter in the breeze, ' Bull Run, 
Ball's Bluff, Roanoke, Newborn, Gainesville, Mechanicsville, Seven Pines, 
Savage's Station, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellors ville, Antietam, 
South Mountain, Knoxville, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Gettysburg' — all 
those names are there in golden letters, and others so torn and defaced that 
I cannot read them. 

"The streets are lined with men, women, and children. The grave 
Senators have left their chamber, and the members of the House of Repre- 
sentatives have taken a recess to gaze upon the defenders of their country 
once more, as they pass through the city, manj of them, alas! never to re- 
turn. There is the steady tramping of the thousands, the deep, heavy jar 
of the gun-carriages on the pavement, the clattering of hoofs, the clanking 
of sabres, the drum-beat, the bugle-call, and the nmsic of the military bands. 
Pavement, sidewalk, windows, and roofs are occupied by the people. Upon 
the balcony of the hotel is their corps-commander. General Burnside, and 
by his side the President of the United States, pale, careworn, returning 
the salutes of the officers and acknowledging those of the soldiers. 

" A division of veterans pass. And now, with full ranks, platoons ex- 
tending from sidewalk to sidewalk, are brigades which never have been 
in battle ; but at the call of their country, they are going forth to crush 
the Rebellion. Their' country ! They never had a country till the tall 
man on the balconj^ so pale and worn, gave them one. 

"• For the first time they behold their benefactor. They are darker hued 
than their veteran comrades who have gone before ; but they can cheer as 
heartily as they. 'Hurrah for Uncle Abe ! Hurrah for Massa Linkun! 
Three cheers for the President ! Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!' There is a 
swinging of caps, a clapping of hands, a waving of handkerchiefs and ban- 
ners. There are no cheers more lusty than those given by the redeemed 
sons of Africa ; there are no responses more hearty than those in return 
from the admiring multitude. Regiment after regiment of stalwart men, 
slaves once, but freemen now, with steady step, closed-up file, and even 
rank, pass down the street, moving on to Old Virginia to certain victor}* 
or certain death." 



76 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

By tliis movement of the Ninth Corps General Grant brought his 
troops into a compact body. During the winter, the Army of the Potomac 
had been consolidated into three corps. The Second commanded by Gen- 
eral Hancock, the Fifth by General Warren, the Sixth by General Sedg- 
wick. Military autliorities are of the opinion that it was a mistake— that 
it would have been better if there had been more corps organizations ; but 
General Meade had made the consolidation, and General Grant did not 
change it. Ont of deference to the feelings of General Burnside, General 
Grant did not, at the beginning of the campaign, regard the Ninth Corps 
as a part of the Army of the Potomac, but as a distinct army. 

General Burnside had commanded the Army of the Potomac in 1862, 
and General Meade was the commander of a division under him, and Gen- 
eral Grant thought it to be not quite consistent with military etiquette for 
a former commander to be placed under one who had been a subordinate. 
At the beginning of the campaign, General Grant, as lieutenant-general 
commanding all the armies, only issued general orders to General Meade 
and General Burnside, allowing them to exercise their own discretion in 
the execution of the orders. With two subordinate commanders, inde- 
pendent of each other, the efficiency of the great army was much impaired. 

The entire army numbered about 125,000 men, with 306 cannon. 

The Confederate army under General Lee was encamped south of 
the Rapidan. General Longstreet's corps, which had passed tlie winter 
in Eastern Tennessee, had received a large number of recruits, and was 
encamped at Gordonsville. From no returns of the Confederate War 
Department is it possible to know just how many soldiers there were un- 
der General Lee. Conscripts were constantly arriving — not new regi- 
ments, but individuals from the different States, who were put into regi- 
ments already organized. It was far better than the plan adopted by the 
Union authorities — the organization of new regiments. The raw Confed- 
erate recruit, standing side by side with men who had seen three years 
of service, in a very short time himself becomes a veteran. The Confed- 
erate army, as near as can be ascertained, numbered between sixty and 
seventy thousand, with two hundred and twenty- four cannon, and was 
composed of three corps, commanded by General Longstreet, Gen. A. P. 
Hill, and General Ewell. (') Notwithstanding the defeat at Gettysburg, 
the soldiers of the Confederacy believed that the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia was invincible; that General Grant, the moment he attempted to 
advance, would be hurled back, as McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker had 
been. 

The disasters in the West, at Yicksburg, Port Hudson, Chattanooga, 



THE GREAT COMMANDER. 77 

and Knoxville, had disheartened many Confederate soldiers in tlie South- 
west as to the success of the Confederacy in establishing its indepen- 
dence ; not so the soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia, who had 
won many battles, and who had unbounded faith in the ability of Gen- 
eral Lee to win victories, and who loved him as children a fond father 
devoted to their welfare. 

From Clark's Mountain, which overlooks the plains upon Avhicli the 
two great armies were encamped, the Confederate signal- officers looked 
down upon the white tents of the Union troops. With their telescopes 
they could sweep the horizon ten miles away, and note every movement. 
General Lee's spies within the Union lines kept him informed of all that 
was going on. Yet there was not much going on during the last week 
in Ai^ril, except the removal of superfluous baggage — the unmistakable 
sign that ere long the army would move in some direction ; but by no 
change that took place could General Lee discover in which direction the 
Army of the Potomac would move. 

General Grant had planned not only his own movement against Lee's 
army, but one from Fortress Monroe by an army under Gen. B. F. Butler, 
which he hoped would either make its way into Richmond, or secure the 
lines of railway communication leading south and west from that city, 
which would cripple the Confederate army. In addition. General Sigel 
was to move from Winchester up the Shenandoah Yalley to threaten Lee's 
communication in that direction, while General Crook was to advance east- 
ward up the Great Kanawha Yalley. It would have been better if the 
troops under Crook and Sigel had been united in the Shenandoah. 

Simultaneously with these movements in the East, General Sherman 
was to advance against General Johnston's Confederate army at Dalton, 
in northern Georgia. 

By the concerted movements of the several armies, the Confederate 
Government could not again send, as it had done the year before, Long- 
street -to reinforce the western army, nor could troops from the west be 
hurried east to assist Lee in confronting the Army of the Potomac. Such 
the strategy thought out by General Grant. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER III. 

(' ) Gen. U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 115. 

P) Idem. 

(3) Idem, p. 117. 

(■*) Gen. A. A. Humphrej's, "Virginia Campaigns of 1864 and 1865," p. 17. 



78 REDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE WILDERNESS. 

OX the evening of May 3d orderlies were i-iding through the great 
army with sealed packages — the orders for the army to move. At 
midnight I looked upon the scene, beholding glimmering camp-fires, long 
lines of men. There was no drum-beat, but a quiet mustering of troops, 
a folding of tents, and then the column of men and long lines of white- 
topped wagons disappeared, moving south-east towards the fords of the 
Rapidan. 

Tlie cavalry, under Sheridan, were in the advance, then a long train 
of wagons with pontoons — the Engineer Corps, hastening to Germania 
Ford, where they quickly constructed two bridges of boats, and two more 
at Ely's, and one at Culpeper Mine. 

If there had been ten bridges instead of five — if a pioneer brigade of 
two thousand men had been organized, with axes and shovels — there 
probably would have been no battle in the Wilderness. The most diffi- 
cult part of Grant's plan was the movement of the four thousand wag- 
ons. A wagon - train, at the best, cannot get on very fast. An obsti- 
nate mule, the breaking of a trace or strap, stops the whole train. The 
trains must be protected by the troops. It would not have been very 
difficult to construct a new road between the Germania and Ely's Ford 
road. It could have been accomplished in a few hours. A year later 
such a road was opened in rear of the works at Petersburg for the last 
grand movement. It was the delay of the trains, moving on two 
roads, which compelled General Grant to fight the first battle in the 
"Wilderness. 

At midnight the whole army was on the march — Wilson's cavalry and 

the Fifth and Sixth corps towards Germania Ford ; Gregg's cavalry and 

the Second Corps to Ely's, six miles down-stream. At 10 

May 4, 1864. , , , , . ■, o ^ r^ /-., i 

o clock the next mornmg the Second Corps was at Cliancel- 

lorsville, resting on the field where they fought a year before. The Fifth 

Corps was at Wilderness Tavern, five miles south of Germania Ford; the 



THE WILDERNESS. 81 

Sixth at the ford ; the Ninth moving from Manassas, where it had halted 
after passing through Washington. 

I had last seen General Grant at Corinth, in June, 1862. During the 
spring campaign of that year he had treated me with great kindness, and 
though so many months had passed, though he had been chief actor in 
one of the greatest wars in the history of the human race, his wonderful 
memory had not failed him as to my name and occupation — that of a 
newspaper correspondent, and I was cordially welcomed to his headquar- 
ters. I rode with his staff to Germania Ford. Upon the south bank 
stood a deserted Virginia farm-house. Although soldiers of the Confed- 
eracy and of the Union had passed and repassed it many times, the win- 
dows had not been broken. The departing family had left a few arti- 
cles of furniture behind — a table and some chairs. 

The frugal supper of the lieutenant-general — cold ham and tongue and 
army bread — was spread upon the table, and I had the honor of being his 
guest, in company with my friend Hon. E. B. Washburne, Member of 
Congress. When supper was finished, General Grant sat on a camp-stool 
by the door-way, smoking his cigar, silent, absorbed in thought, looking 
out upon the gleaming camp-fires of a division of the Sixth Corps, form- 
ing the right wing of the army in this movement. 

The great religious interest manifest in the army during the winter 
had not lost its force. The soldiers of an entire brigade were holding a 
prayer-meeting. The sky was without a cloud, and the gleaming stars 
looked down upon them while the glimmering bivouac fires brought out 
in bold relief the kneeling throng. This was to be their last meeting be- 
fore the beginning of the terrific struggle. Before another sunset the lips 
of many of that congregation would be silent evermore. The prayers fin- 
ished, they stood erect, and then joined in their parting hymn, the mighty 
chorus of manly voices mingling with the tattoo of the evening drum-beat, 
swelling out in the melody and harmony of Old Hundred, the music of 
Martin Luther, the great apostle of Liberty. 

"Eternal are thy mercies, Lord, 
Eternal truth attends thy word ; 
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore 
Till suns shall rise and set no more."(.M 

General Lee did not believe that General Grant was marching towards 
Spottsylvania, but that it was a movement to attack his right flank, (') 
The Union signal-officers were reading his despatches, for they had discov- 
ered the key to the Confederate code of signals. It was past one in the 
6 



82 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

afternoon, and the Fifth Coqjs had reached the Wilderness Tavern, when 
Lee directed Evvell and Hill to occupy their old line of intrenchments at 
Mine Run (" Marching to Victory," p. 466). He sent orders to Longstreet, 
who was at Gordonsville, to move up the plank road. General X^ee was 
familiar with the country. Many times he had ridden along the roads. 
His military secretary says : 

" Its intricacies, which were familiar to him and his generals, were un- 
known ground to Grant. In them he had already vanquished a large army 
with half its force. The natural hope of success in baffling his new oppo- 
nent which this gave him he did not fail to avail himself of, and Grant 
found himself unexpectedly arrested in his march by the presence of the 
Confederate army in the wilds in which, just a year before. Hooker's con- 
fident army had been hurled back in defeat." (') 

That General Lee confidently expected to overwhelm General Grant, 
and send him back across the Rapidan and Rappahannock as Hooker and 
Burnside had been sent, will be seen by this narrative as given by his 
military secretary, who spent the night and breakfasted with him, and 
who has given this picture of the Confederate commander : 

" The general displayed the cheerfulness which he usually exhibited 
at meals, and indulged in a few pleasant jests at the expense of his staff- 
officers, as was his custom on such occasions. He expressed himself sur- 
prised that his new adversary had placed himself in the predicament 
as ' Fighting Joe ' had done the previous spring. He hoped the result 
would be even more disastrous to Grant than that which Hooker had ex- 
perienced. He was in the best of spirits and expressed much confidence 
of the result; a confidence which was well founded, for there was much 
reason to believe that his antagonist would be at his mercy while entan- 
gled in the pathless thicket." (*) 

The country had been settled many years, but it was still a wilder- 
ness — dense woods, tangled thickets, here and there a clearing, a tumble- 
down farm-house. The land was once almost wholly owned by a rich 
old man, who leased farms to tenants. He had many slaves and lived in 
grand style, raising tobacco and slaves. Roads were laid out before the 
Revolutionary War. The tide of travel then was east and west, between 
the mountains and the sea-coast, to Williamsburg and Fredericksburg. 

To accommodate this, two roads were laid out — the Orange turnpike, 
five miles south of Gerinania Ford, and one and a half miles farther south 
the Orange plank road. The road from Germania Ford runs south-east, 
the other south-west. The Wilderness Tavern is on the turnpike near its 
junction with the Germania road. The house of Mr. Lacy is south-west 




%^ iiiyiiiiiiij III II ii iiiiyiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I 



THE WILDERNESS. 



May 5, 1864. 



from the tavern a sliort distance. It was here that Stonewall Jackson had 
his arm amputated during the battle of Chancellorsville. 

Early in the morning General Grant was in the saddle. It was be- 
tween seven and eight o'clock when he reached General Meade, near 
Wilderness Tavern. The cavalry pickets had been out on 
the turnpike and plank road, and had exchanged shots with 
the Confederates. The troops 
of the Fifth Corps were in the 

fields and woods west of Lacy's '"^^ttte 

house. ^ 

" General Warren says that 
Lee intends to fight us here," 
General Meade remarked. 

" Very well," the reply. 

The two commanders enter- 
ed the edge of the woods west 
of the road and dismounted. 
General Humphreys, chief of 
General Meade's staff, took out % 

his order-book and wrote a few 
lines. Aides on fast horses car- 
ried the messages to "Warren, 
Sedgwick, Hancock, and Sheri- 
dan. (^) 

Riding out to the front line 
I saw across a field the Confed- 
erates under Hill coming into position, the sunlight gleaming from barrel 
and bayonet. The skirmishers were exchanging shots ; soldiers were at 
work with axes felling trees, constructing rude intrenchments. 

With great promptness, and confident of victory, Lee moved to strike 
a staggering blow. 

It was a sublime confidence which animated the Confederate troops on 
that bright May morning. I could see it in their marching, coming out 
squarely into the open field, and taking deliberate position to hurl them- 
selves upon Warren's corps. They had nnbounded faith in Lee. 

The soldiers of the Union army knew General Grant only by reputa- 
tion. They had read about Donelson, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, but 
he had not reviewed them, never had ridden along the lines with a grand 
staff. It can hardly be said that General Grant on that morning possessed 
the confidence of tlie army ; he was yet to win it. 
6* 




MA J. -GEN. G. K. WARREN. 



86 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

While the troops under Meade were deploying for battle in tlie Wil- 
derness, those nnder Burnside were moving from Manassas Junction, forty 
miles north of Germania Ford, where they had been holding the railroad. 
They marched all night, and in tlie morning were crossing at Germania 
Ford and filing in rear of the Sixth Corps. One division of cavalry was 
retained north of the Kapidan to guard against any movement to strike 
Grant's line of communication. 

The Union army was marching south, the Confederate east, and Grant 
saw that instead of reaching, as he had hoped, the cleared fields around 
Spottsylvania, the first battle must be fought in the Wilderness. 

His plan was to take the initiative whenever he could draw the 
enemy from his intrenchments. He did not wait till all his troops were 
up, but ordered Warren to attack as soon as he could get his troops 
into position. 

General Getty's division of the Sixth Corps filed in rear of the Fiftli 
Corps and came into line on the right, to hold the ground in that direc- 
tion till Hancock could make the march from Chancellorsville. The 
Union line at the beginning of the struggle was formed with Rickett's 
division of the Sixth Corps nearest the Rapidan, forming the right wing, 
then Wright's division, then the Fifth Corps, with Getty's division of 
the Sixth. 

The Second Corps, upon its arrival, formed on the left of Getty, 
reaching southward in the direction of Todd's Tavern, occupied by the 
cavalry under Sheridan. The Ninth Corps was moving south from Ger- 
mania Ford and coming into position in rear of the Fifth. 

On the Confederate side Ewell confronted the Sixth Corps, A. P. Hill 
the Fifth, while Longstreet was advancing to meet Hancock, and Stuart 
to attack Sheridan. The wagons of General Grant, more than four thou- 
sand, were at Chancellorsville. The last eastward railroad train had left 
Culpeper Court-house. The Union army had cut loose from Washington 
by that line. 

General Crawford's division of the Fiftli Corps at eight o'clock was 
out on Mr. Chewing's farm, on the plank road ; General Wadsworth's 
was close behind, also General Robinson's. There were cavalry pickets 
at Parker's store, which were being driven in, but Crawford advanced 
and held the ground. 

Going from the Wilderness Tavern south we ride along the Brock 
road, which, before railroads were built, was a great highway between 
Spottsylvania and the Germania Ford. A mile and a half down this 
road brings us to the plank road. If we turn west and ride a mile and 



THE WILDERNESS. 



87 



a half we come to Parker's store. Keeping these roads and places in 
mind, we shall be able to understand the great battle which was fought 
almost wholly in the woods, M^iere the trees — scrub -oaks, pines, cedars, 




WILDEKNESS BATTLE-FIELD. 



and sassafras — were so thick that the contending armies could not see 
each other. 

General Lee did not care to bring on the battle until Longstreet was 
in position. 

Three o'clock. We see Wright's division of the Sixth Corps moving 
south-west through the woods, the Fifth Corps in position from the right 
of the turnpike, across it, down to the plank road. 

The battle begins along Warren's line. It is not long before Wright's 
division of the Sixth Corps strikes Swell's flank and drives it in disorder. 
Ewell brings up reinforcements, and Wright is driven in turn. It is five 
o'clock before Hancock comes up. 

I shall not attempt to describe the movements of tlie Union and Con- 



88 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

federate brigades backward and forward through the thickets, because I 
could not make it intelligible. We may think of men in blue and men 
in gray surging to and fro, neither side advancing very far, neither re- 
treating any great distance. The ground is a succession of hills and hol- 
lows, knolls and ravines, covered with thick bushes, scrub-oak, sassafras, 
chincapin, and hazel. Two columns of smoke rise above the trees. Men 
fire into the thickets, aiming only at flashes and lines of smoke. The 
twigs of trees are cut into shreds by the leaden rain. The woods are so 
thick that cannon are of little use. Till the sun goes down the mighty 
uproar goes on, little advantage being gained by either party, each hold- 
ing its ground. The woods are thick with killed and wounded. The last 
year's dead leaves are like tinder. They take fire, and the flames sweep 
over the ground between the lines. The wounded cry for lielp. Some 
are snatched from the flames, but for others there is no relief, 

Night came on with each army preparing for the morrow's struggle, 
throwing up intrenchments, both preparing for tlie attack at daylight. 
On the Confederate side Longstreet was bringing up his division by Par- 
ker's store. On the Union side the Ninth Corps was coming into posi- 
tion between Warren and Hancock. 

I spread my blanket for the night beneath a shed, once occui^ied by a 
gold-mining companj^, near General Grant's headquarters. I was astir at 
•daybreak, for I knew that General Grant intended to renew the attack as 
soon as day dawned. I do not know why General Meade wished him to 
postpone it till six o'clock ; but in deference to his wishes the order was 
modifled to five. C) General Grant knew from his spies that Longstreet 
was hastening on, and wished to strike a blow before his arrival. General 
Lee, wishing to delay, if possible, any attack upon his right by Hancock, 
directed Ewell to open fire upon the Sixth Corps. 

It was a little past five when I heard a ripple of musketry in front of 

the Sixth Corj)s, then a longer roll. The spring birds were singing their 

mornino; sono-s in the trees around me, the air was fragrant 

May 6, 1864. .,-,,. , ■ n 

With the periume or openmg flowers, army wagons were 
rumbling along the roads, when the uproar of battle began. A moment 
later I heard the outburst of the tempest, where Hancock was falling 
upon the left of A, P. Hill's command. If General Lee thought to delay 
the expected stroke, if he thought that Grant wovdd order Hancock, to 
wait, he was mistaken. Wadswortli's division of the Fifth Corjjs, north 
of the Orange »plank road, and Hancock with the Second Corps south of 
it, moved upon Hill. The assault of Hancock first fell upon Heth's and 
Wilcox's divisions. A Confederate historian says : " Hill was assailed witli 



THE WILDERNESS. 91 

increased vigor, so heavy a pressure being brought to bear upon Heth and 
Wilcox that they were driven back, and owing to tlie difficulties of the 
country, were thrown into confusion. The failure of Longstreet to appear 
came near causing a serious disaster to the army-''^) 

There was confusion in rear of the Confederate army. General Lee 
sent his adjutant-general to Parker's store, ordering the trains to be ready 
to move. Messengers rode in haste with an order to Longstreet to hasten 
the march of his troops. Had we been there we should have seen General 
Longstreet ordering his men to go upon the run, and himself putting 
spurs to his horse and galloping towards the line of battle, each moment 
coming nearer as Hancock's troops pressed on. General Lee and Hill were 
endeavoring to rally the retreating Confederates. It was a critical moment 
for General Lee. Hill's troops were breaking when Gregg's brigade of 
Texans appeared, the foremost of Longstreet's command. They, with 
the other troops of Longstreet, went west before the battle of Chick- 
amauga, and had not for several months seen their beloved commander ; 
but beholding him rallying Hill's troops, with the bullets falling around 
him, broke into a cheer. This the account of the scene by a Confed- 
erate :(') 

" The Texans cheered lustily as their line of battle, coming up in splen- 
did style, passed by Wilcox's disordered columns, and swept across our 
artillery pit and its adjacent breastwork. Much moved by the greeting of 
these brave men and their magnificent behavior, General Lee spurred his 
horse through an opening in the trenches, and followed close on their line 
as it moved rapidly forward. The men did not perceive that he was going 
with them until they had advanced some distance in the charge. When 
they did recognize him, there came from the entire line as it rushed on, 
the cry, 'Go back, General Lee! go back!' A sergeant seized his bridle- 
rein and turned his horse." (°) 

In the charge upon Hancock more than one-half of Gregg's brigade 
w^ere killed or wounded ; but their assault, together with Benning's divis- 
ion, was so vigorous that the advance of Birney's and Mott's divisions was 
checked. General Grant has this to say regarding the attack by Han- 
cock : 

"I believed then, and see no reason to change that opinion, that if the 
country had been such that Hancock and his command could have seen 
the confusion and panic in the lines of the enemy, it would have taken 
advantage so effectually that Lee would not have made another sfand out- 
side of his Richmond defences." ('") 

Both Union and Confederate lines were broken up — regiments sep- 



92 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

arated from tlieir brigades and disorganized. This before 6.30 iu the 
morning. There came a lull while the line reformed. 

South of the plank road was an unfinished line of railroad, and later 
in the day Longstreet swung his troops in that direction, struck Hancock's 
left flank and drove the Union troops back to their intrenchments. The 
woods were on fire, and the logs of the breastworks were burning, but 
amid the crackle of the flames the battle went on. I have heard the up- 
roar of many battles, but never so heavy a fire of musketry as rolled up 
along Hancock's line during the afternoon, when almost the whole of his 
corps and two divisions of Burnside's corps were engaged with Long- 
street's and Hill's. I think that thirty thousand men were firing at the 
same moment. 

At five o'clock Longstreet's troops fell back. They had forced the 
Second Corps back from the advance made in the morning, but could not 
drive Hancock from his chosen position. 

At sunset the battle died away. I was at General Grant's headquarters 
in the grove of pines north of the Lacy house. 

Suddenly, far up on the right, rose the Confederate war-whoop, then 
volleys of musketry and the thunder of cannon. The Confederate gen- 
erals Gordon and Johnston had formed their brigades in the woods in 
front of Shaler's brigade of the Sixth Corps. A portion of Shaler's men 
laid down their guns and were using axes and shovels, when the Confed- 
erates rushed upon them, taking Shaler and nearly all his men prisoners. 
It was an attack as sudden as the swoop of an eagle. They rushed on 
and struck Seymour's brigade. Pegram's Confederate brigade came upon 
Wright's division. The battle became fierce and bloody. Looking across 
the fields I could see fugitives streaming towards Chancellorsville. Team- 
sters were harnessing their horses ; wagons were in motion ; there was a 
quick packing up. An officer greatly excited came riding to headquarters. 

" The Rebels have massed their whole force on our right ; got between 
us and the river; turned our flank. They have captured Shaler's and Sey- 
mours brigades, and are sweeping all before tliem !" he shouted. (") 

General Grant was sitting with his back against a tree, whittling a 
stick. He did not rise, nor was he disturbed. , General Meade, hearing the 
report and seeing evident signs of disaster, with quick, nervous energy, 
said, " Shall I order in supports, general ?" " Yes, if you think best," 
the reply. But troops were already on their way, which General Humph- 
reys had taken the responsibility of ordering to support the Sixth Corps. 
He says : " Staff-officers of the Sixth Corps rode into General Meade's 
headquarters and informed me (General Meade was at General Grant's 



THE WILDERNESS. 93 

headquarters) that the right of the line liad been broken and rolled up, 
that the enemy occupied the position, and that a part of them were ad- 
vancing down the Germania plank road, on our right and rear, following 
the fuo-itives from Shaler's and Seymour's brigades, and that probably 
both Sedgwick and Wright were captured. I at once made dispositions 
to meet this with the prov^ost guard and some troops that General War- 
ren sent me." ('" ) 

Had we been within the Confederate lines we should have seen in the 
afternoon Johnston's brigade of Rodes's division arriving from Hanover 
Junction, and the troops marching up to the left of the line to join Gen- 
eral Early. The Confederates discovered that the right of the Sixth 
Corps had no troops near at hand in support. As the sun went down 
Gordon's and Johnston's brigades marclied north, then east, and then 
south-east, to gain the flank and rear of the Union troops, while Early 
with his remaining brigades attacked in front. The Union troops, under 
General Shaler, were building breastworks. The pickets were not very 
far out from the main line. Gordon's and Johnston's men came upon 
them, capturing a large number of Shaler's men before they could throw 
down their axes and shovels and seize their guns. The brigade was 
thrown into confusion, some of the men fleeing across the fields. The 
wave next struck Seymour's brigade, which also was thrown into con- 
fusion, but the men quickly rallied and poured in sncli destructive volleys 
that the Confederate ranks in tnrn were broken and thrown into disorder. 
Night was fast settling over the forest, illuminated by the flashing of 
thousands of muskets. The Confederate officers were unable to rally the 
men in the darkness, and the struggle ended almost as quickly as it began. 
" It was fortunate," writes the Confederate General Early, " that darkness 
came to close this affair, as the enemy, if he had been able to discover the 
disorder on our side, might have brought up fresh troops and availed him- 
self of our condition." C) 

Minutes seem hours at such a time, for the uproar increased and 
came nearer. In the field north of the Wilderness Tavern, the reserve 
artillery, the provost guards, and a division of the Fifth Corps were com- 
ing into position for a new line. The coolest person in that group beneath 
the pines was the man who never lost a battle. At last the silent man 
spoke : 

" Washburn, I do not believe, that story. The Rebels can have no great 
force on our right. Through the afternoon Longstreet and Hancock have 
been at it. Warren has had all he could do with Hill. Lee has not had 
time to change his troops and mass them on the right." ('*) 



94 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

He had thouglit it out, and was not concerned. It was a disaster to 
lose sevei'al hundred prisoners, but that was not going to force him from 
his position. 

An officer came riding in, giving a clear account of what had hap- 
pened. "We have a new line established, and can hold them," he said. 

During the two days' struggle General Grant had lost about fifteen 
thousand killed and wounded and taken prisoners. There are no returns of 
the losses of the Confederates, but as General Grant was the assailant, it is 
probable that the number of killed and wounded was not so great as on 
the Union side. The biographer of General Lee admits that the loss was 
seven thousand ;(") the probabilities are that, including prisoners taken, 
the Confederate loss exceeded ten thousand. A great many statements 
have been made by writers in regard to the war that are not true. 
A Confederate writer states that the Union loss in this battle was forty 
thousand. ('") 

General Grant did not intend to have his troops slaughtered by an 
attack upon the Confederate intrenchments. He had no idea of retreat- 
ing. The one thought in his mind was how best to get at Lee's army. 
He would move by his left flank to Spottsylvania. The first great con- 
flict of the campaign had been fought. Lee possibly thought he could 
compel Grant to follow the example of Hooker, and recross the Raj)idan, 
but he was mistaken. Lee had. not won a victory. General Grant did 
not desire to fight in the Wilderness, but accepted battle while waiting 
for his trains. He had held his ground, and proposed to go on. 

Through the night long lines of ambulances were moving towards 
Fredericksburg with the wounded, who had to be cared for before the 
army could be moved on. All but one of the bridges across the Rapi- 
dan had been taken up ; that one was used to reopen communication 
with Washington, and a large number of the wounded were sent by that 
route. 

Through Saturday there was a strange quietness along the lines, in 
contrast to the turmoil of Thursday and Friday. General Lee was send- 
ing his wounded southward, to be transported to Richmond 
■ ' or to Gordons ville. All the farm-houses in rear of his lines 

were filled with wounded. Of the battle of the Wilderness General Grant 
has left this record : 

"More desperate fighting has not been witnessed on this continent 
than that of the 5th and 6th of May. Our victory consisted in having 
successfully crossed a formidable stream almost in the face of an enemy, 
and in getting the army together as a unit. We gained an advantage on 



THE WILDERNESS. 95 

the morning of the 6th, which, if it had heen followed up, must have 
proved decisive. In the evening the enemy gained an advantage but 
was speedily repulsed. As we stood at the close, the two armies were 
relatively about in the same condition to meet each other as when the 
river divided them; but the fact of having safely crossed was a vie- 
tory."(") 

In this battle the electric telegraph was used for the transmission of 
orders. The moment General Grant had selected a place for his head- 
quarters a man riding a mule started upon a trot, reeling off lines of in- 
sulated wire, to the headquarters of generals Sedgwick, Warren, Hancock, 
and Buniside. A wagon followed dropping poles ten feet long, with an 
iron spike at one end and a fork at the other, by which the wire was 
lifted from the ground, so that the troops could march and countermarch 
without tripping. Being insulated, it worked just as well in rain as in 
sunshine. Each brigade unrolled its own length of wire; so in a very 
few minutes there was a line of telegraph in operation and the instru- 
ments clicking at the headquarters of each general. To the close of the 
war the field telegraph was used by General Grant. 

For two days the contest had raged. When General Grant rose from 
his camp-bed on the morning of Saturday he had formed his plan for 
future action. He would not renew the struggle in the Wilderness, but 
would make a movement to get between General Lee and Hichmond ; 
but he must remain where he was till he could remove the wounded. 

Before he sat down to breakfast he issued the order for the corps 
commanders to be ready to make a night march towards Spottsylvania. 
So through the day the long line of ambulances was moving towards 
Fredericksburg, and the four thousand wagons southward towards the 
Ny River. 

In making the movement, the Fifth Corps at sunset was to quietly 
withdraw from its intrenchments and march down the Brook road, the 
great highway of former days leading from Germania Ford to Rich- 
mond. The Sixth and I^inth corps were to move by other routes, while 
Hancock with the Second Corps was to remain in position till the others 
had passed. General Grant thought it likely that General Lee would fall 
upon Hancock, but he did not. The Confederate commander instead 
telegraphed to Richmond that the Union army was once more defeated, 
and was retreating to Fredericksburg. ('*) 

But he soon discovered his mistake, and ordered Anderson, placed in 
command of the First Corps after the wounding of Longstreet, to hasten 
to Spottsylvania, for if General Grant were to reach that point in ad- 



96 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

vance and retain possession, he would be compelled to attack liim, with 
the advantage of position on the side of the Union troops. He was too 
wary to do that after the two days' conflict in the tangled thickets of the 
Wilderness. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER IV. 

Author's Note-book, May, 1864. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 191. 

Gen. A. L. Long, " Memoirs of Robert E. Lee," p. 326. 

Idem. 

Author's Note-book, May, 1864. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 195. 

Gen. A. L. Long, " Memoirs of Robert E. Lee," p. 329. 

Idem, p. 331. 

C. S. Venable, of Lee's staff. Address before Southern Historical Society. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 197. 

Author's Note-book, May, 1864. 

Gen. A. A. Humphreys, " Virginia Campaigns of 1864 and 1865," p. 50. 

Gen. J. A. Early, " Memoirs of the Last Year of the War," p. 20. 

Author's Note-book, May, 1864. 

Gen. A. L. Long, "Memoirs of Robert E. Lee," p. 324. 

Gen. C. M. Wilcox, quoted by Gen. A. A. Humphreys, in " Virginia Campaigns of 

1864 and 1865," p. 424. 
Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 204. 
Idem, p. 211. 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 97 



CHAPTER V. 

SPOTTSYLVANI A. 

SPOTTSYLYANIA COURT-HOUSE is a little hamlet, consisting 
of the court-house and jail, a large tvvo-storj brick tavern, a gro- 
cery, and a few houses. It is upon the Brook road leading from Rich- 
mond to Culpeper north-west. From the tavern a road leads north-east 
to Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant. The river Ny rises amid the 
woods south of Chancellorsville, and crosses the road leading to Fred- 
ericksburg one mile from the court-house. The river Po, which rises 
amid the w^oods south-west of the Wilderness battle-field, with many 
windings between rugged banks, runs south-east. If we go west from 
the court-house upon a road leading to Shady Grove Church, we may 
cross the Po by Block House Bridge, or by SnelTs Bridge, near the farm 
of Mr. Chewnig. If we travel up the Brook road, one mile and a half 
will bring us to the farm of Mr. Spindler, and another mile will take us 
to the house of Mr. Alsop ; still another mile will bring us to Todd's 
Tavern. The road runs along the high land between the 'Ny and thei Po. 
It was about fifteen miles from General Grant's headquarters on the "Wil- 
derness battle-field to the court-house. 

The sun was setting when the troops of the Fifth Corps of the Army 

of the Potomac left their intrench ments and moved down the Brook road 

towards Spottsylvania. The daylight faded away, and then 

MavV, 1864. , . ^ p , o- ■. ^ i • i i 

the regnnents of the Sixth Corps moved noiselessly across 
the fields by the old "Wilderness Tavern in tlie same direction. The jS'inth 
Corps turned eastward, going down the road leading to the field of Chan- 
cellorsville, passing in the depths of the forest the graves of those who 
a year before gave up their lives for their country. The Second Corps 
remained where it had fought during the battle of the "Wilderness. 

It was past nine o'clock when I mounted my horse at General Grant's 
headquarters, and rode with the commander-in-chief to the headquarters 
of General Hancock. General Meade was there. The men of the Sec- 
ond Corps, who had confronted Longstrcet in the terrible struggle, were 
7 ♦ 



98' 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



in line behind their breastworks along the Brook road. The woods were 
on lire between them and the Confederates, the flames throwing a hirid 
light npon the tall forest-trees. Some soldiers were asleep, others smok- 
ing their pipes, others on the watch for any advance of the Confederates. 
Few of the men of the Second Corps had ever seen General Grant, 
but when they saw him, and knew that instead of retreating he was mov- 
ing to strike Lee, they swung their hats and made the forest ring with 
tlieir cheers. 




SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT-HOUSE. 



The Confederates knew not what to make of it. A moment later there 
came an answering cheer, and then a volley of musketry and artillery. 
They thought that Hancock was going to attack them. The bullets were 
singing in the air above us, and we could hear them spinning amid the 
foliage, but little harm was done, and the firing soon ceased. I was weary 
and w^orn, and threw myself upon the ground in the thicket, and was soon 
asleep, but was awakened by the stir around me as General Grant and Gen- 
eral Meade again mounted their horses. A moment later we were riding 
down a narrow road in a dense forest. Suddenly a musket flashed before 
us. There was a quick drawing of our bridle-reins. We had taken the 
wrong road, and were close upon the Confederate pickets. A few rods 
farther and General Grant, with his staff and he who writes these lines, 
would have encountered General Anderson's Confederate troops, which 
were on the march to throw themselves in front of the Fifth Corps, and 
prevent General Grant from reaching Spottsylvania.(') Quickly we 
turned about. Colonel Comstock, engineer-in-chief, discovered the right 
road, and we rode swiftly on. Day was breaking in the east when we 
reached Todd's Tavern, a two-storied building with a chimney at each 
end, where, in by-gone days travellers had found lodgings and refreshment. 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 99 

The landlord and liis wife were old and feeble. Little had they dreamed 
that two great armies would suddenly struggle for the mastery in the sur- 
rounding fields and woods. 

The Union and Confederate cavalry were fighting, the cannon flashing, 
as I tied my horse to the palings of the fence by the tavern, placed my 
saddle upon the ground for a pillow, and dropped off to sleep, undisturbed 
by the tramping of passing troops, the thunder of the cannon, or the rum- 
bling of ammunition-wagons. 

During the preceding day important news had come to General Grant, 

that General Butler moved from Fortress Monroe according to orders, 

^. r- .... ^^^^ ^^^^^ landed his whole force at City Point, surprising the 

Mav 5, 1864. r^ ^ ^ ' r & 

Confederates and threatening Richmond. It was this infor- 
mation which led General Grant to endeavor to get between Lee's army 
and the Confederate capital, for he thought it possible that an order 
might have been sent by Jefferson Davis to Lee, withdrawing him to 
Richmond. (') We shall see in another chapter just what General But- 
ler had accomplished. 

During the battle of the Wilderness the cavalry under Sheridan had 
been holding all the country from Todd's Tavern to Fredericksburg against 
any surprise from the Confederate cavalry under Stuart. At Todd's Tav- 
ern, Gregg's and Merritt's divisions of Union cavalry, all through May 7th, 
were confronted by Fitz-IIugh Lee's Confederate division, holding the Ca- 
thargin road, which runs south-Avest to Shady Grove Church. It crosses 
the Po at Corbyn's Bridge, two miles west of Todd's Tavern. General 
Wilson's division of cavalry was on the road leading from Spottsylvania to 
the court-house, and Avas ordered by Sheridan to move to the court-house, 
and thence west to Shady Grove Church, to be joined by Gregg and 
Merritt, to drive the Confederate cavalry beyond Corbyn's Bridge. All 
three divisions were to move at daylight on Sunday morning. 

General Meade arrived at Todd's Tavern at midnight. The orders 

which Sheridan had issued had not reached Gregg and Merritt, and 

General Meade directed Gregg to move out towards Cor- 

Mav 8, 1864. i i , ^.r 

byn s and watch the roads, while Merritt was to go down 
the Brook road to Spottsylvania. This M-as done without consulting 
General Sheridan. 

Wilson moved as he had been directed by Sheridan, and at daylight 
drove in the Confederate pickets, advanced to the court-house, and was 
in possession of the all- important point, when there came the thunder 
of the cannonade from the north-west near Corbyn's Bridge, and from 
the farm of Mr. Spindler. Going up the Brook road towards the battle, 



100 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

Wilson found liimself stopped by two divisions of Anderson's troops, 
which had just arrived and were throwing up intrenchments. He was 
in an isolated position, and orders soon came for him to fall back along 
the Fredericksburg road. So it came about that Spottsylvania was lost 
at the outset, because the small body of cavalry could not hold it against 
infantry. 

I was awakened from sleep by the sudden roar of cannon near at 
hand, and in the dawning light could see across the iield the Union 
artillerymen loading their pieces. Shells from the Confederate guns 
were whirring through the air. The Fifth Corps was passing the Tav- 
ern, Robertson's division in advance, tiling from the road into a iield by 
the house of Mr. Alsop — a small building with a porch at one end. The 
Brook road along which the troops were marching forks near the house, 
the two roads coming together a mile farther on. The Union troops 
moved to the right. 

General Lee had discovered that Geneivil Grant was inaugurating a 
movement, but had misinterpreted it, thinking that he was retreating. 
This was the despatch which he sent to Richmond : " The enemy has 
abandoned his position, and is moving towards Fredericksburg." (') When 
he discovered his mistake he directed Anderson to move to Spottsylva- 
nia in the morning; but the woods were on fire, and Anderson, finding 
no good place where he could go into bivouac, began his march at once. 
So it came about that the Confederates under Anderson and the Fifth 
Corps had marched on parallel roads, scarcely more than one mile apart, 
towards Spottsylvania. More than this, General Lee directed General 
Early, who had been placed temporarily in command of Ewell's corps, to 
march to Todd's Tavern by the very road on which we have seen the 
Second and Fifth corps. When General Anderson reached the main 
road, between Todd's Tavern and Spottsylvania, he saw the error which 
General Lee had made, and quickly prepared for battle. So, through a 
mistake on the part of General Lee, and not by any correct comprehen- 
sion of the situation of the Union army or the intention of General 
Grant, the great struggle at Spottsylvania began. If General Anderson 
had obeyed the order of General Lee, the probabilities are that General 
Grant would have succeeded in placing his army between Lee's army 
and Richmond ; or if not that, he would have chosen his own ground, and 
General Lee would have been compelled to attack at a disadvantage or 
make a rapid retreat. Such the strange complications of the moment. 

General Lee had a large number of spies — men Avho knew all the 
roads, and who had a general acquaintance with all the features of the 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 



101 



country. Since the war, I have talked with a Confederate who was thus 
employed to iind out what the Union army was doing. This his story : 

"I rode through the Union corps, keeping my eyes and ears open. 
When with the Fifth Corps I asked wdiere I should find the Sixth, or 
Ninth, or Second. I said that I had despatches in my hand for Hancock, 
or Sedgwick, or Burnside. When I wanted to gain the Confederate lines 
I rode boldly past the Union pickets. If they stopped me, I was an 
engineer otiicer ordered to examine the ground. Of course I had no dif- 
ficulty in getting inside the Confederate lines." (') 







HOUSE OP MR. AT.SOP. 



The sun was several hours up before the Fifth Corps was prepared 
for battle. The headquarters of General Grant were established at Piney 
Grove Church. N^o bell called the w^orshippers to its portal on that 
Sunday morning ; the thunder of the cannonade and rolls of musketry, 
instead, vibrated the air. 

The day was intensely hot, and I sat beneath the apple-trees, fragrant 
with blossoms, and listened to the strange Sabbath symphony — the hum- 
ming of bees, the songs of birds, the roll of musketry, and the cannonade. 

I saw Tyler's brigade — Sixteenth Maine, Thirteenth and Thirty-ninth 
Massachusetts, and One Hundred and Fourth New York — advancing on 



102 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

the left ; Denison's brigade of Maryland troops, four regiments, on the 
right; Coulter's brigade — Twelfth Massachusetts, Eighty-third and Nine- 
ty-seventh New York, Eleventh, Eighty-eighth, and Ninetieth Pennsyl- 
vania — in rear of Tyler. The skirniishers move across the field. The 
lines reached Alsop's house, when there came a roll of musketry from the 
woods beyond, with solid shot and shell from the Confederate artillery. 
The great battle of Spottsylvania, which was to go on day after day, had 
begun. 

Tlie Confederates were behind intrenchments. They were Kershaw's 
and Humphreys's brigades. Kei-shaw had six regiments and a battalion 
of South Carolina troops ; Humphreys had four Mississippi regiments. 

The Confederate army was organized mainly with regiments from a 
State brigaded together. It was carrying out the idea of State exclu- 
siveness— of State rights. The State was more than the Confederacy. 

The brigades in the Union army were usually made np of regiments 
from different States. It was carrying out the idea of Union. Massa- 
chusetts and Wisconsin, New York and Ohio, fought side by side. 

As far as practicable, the Confederate divisions were also made up of 
troops from a single State. Pickett's division — four brigades — were all 
from Virginia ; of Johnson's four brigades, three were from Virginia ; of 
Rodes's division of five brigades, three were from North Carolina. 

Almost at the first fire General Robinson was wounded. The Confed- 
erates were in the woods, behind intrenchments, under cover, while the 
Union troops were in the field and suffered severely. 

While Robinson's division was moving across the field, Griflin's divis- 
ion advanced south of Alsop's house, Bartlett's brigade in advance — Twen- 
tieth Maine, Eighteenth Massachusetts, Forty-fourth New York, Eighty- 
third and One Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania, First and Sixteenth 
Michigan. 

These troops were in the middle of the field when the hot blast from 
the Confederates struck them. Robinson's and Griflin's troops recoiled 
under the fierce fire. Ayres's and Sweitzer's brigades were in rear of 
Bartlett's, whose lines reformed. Crawford's division — the Pennsylvania 
Reserves — came up on Griflin's left, and the Confederates were driven 
from their position. 

At this moment Field's division of Longstreet's corps came into line, 
striking Griffin's right flank ; but help was at hand for Grifiin — Cutler's 
division, commanded by Wadsworth at the Wilderness till his death. The 
men of this division have been resting, and they moved into battle with 
resistless force and energy, folding back the Confederate right, obtaining 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 



103 



an advantageous position and throwing np intrenclnnents. It was one 
o'clock. The soldiers of the Fifth Corps had marched all night, had 
had no breakfast ; nature was exhausted. 

General Meade directed Sedgwick, with the Sixth Corps, to come up 
on the left of the Fifth, and the two eorjis together to push on towards 
the court-house, but the afternoon wore away before the Sixth Corj)s was 




MAP OF SPOTTSYLVANIA. 



May 9, 1864. 



in position. It w^as too late to begin a great struggle. Crawford's divis- 
ion advanced, but fell back again, and the troops, with axes and shovels, 
threw up intrenchments. 

Monday morning opened wnth the cannon of both armies in action. 
General Grant discovered a movement of the Confederates eastward, as if 
Lee intended to advance upon Fredericksburg. He changed 
his headquarters from Piney Grove Church to a position 
immediately in rear of the Fifth Corps. At daylight a large portion of 
the cavalry under Sheridan was riding south, with orders to strike the 
railroads leading to Richmond, tear up the tracks, do all the damage pos- 
sible, and obtain new supplies from General Bntler on the banks of the 
James. Such a movement would compel Lee to abandon all thoughts of 
marching upon Fredericksburg. It is not known that Lee intended any 
such movement. He had only transferred Early, in command of Hill's 
corps, over to the extreme riglit of his line, to prevent any attempt Grant 



104 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

miglit make to cut liitn off from Richmond, for Wilcox's division of tlie 
Ninth Corps had crossed the Nj River and was intrenching. 

At one o'clock in the afternoon Grant sent this despatch to Halleck : 
" The enemy are now moving either to interpose between us and Fred- 
ericksburg, or to get the inside road to Richmond." (') 

I rode through the woods and came to an open iield. I could see 
Confederate wagon -trains headed towards Spottsylvania on the Shady 
Grove road. Generals Grant and Meade and Hancock were in consul- 
tation near me. I do not kiiow whether either of them directed the 
Union artillery to open lire upon the baggage-wagons ; probably the artil- 
lery captains could not resist the opportunity to tire upon the train, 
which created a sudden stampede of the horses and the disappearance of 
the wagons. Hancock thought it would be well to send Brooks's brigade 
across the Po to capture the wagons. General Grant directed him to 
send not only a brigade, but to use three divisions and swing them tow- 
ards Spottsylvania. 

Riding across the open fields beyond Alsop's house, I could see the 
Confederate columns moving towards the court-house. Shells were 
screaming across the open space, and there was a brisk fire along the 
picket line. General Grant had been reconnoitring through the morn- 
ing. He talked with General Sedgwick, who was directing the placing of 
the batteries along his line, upon the northern bank of a ravine, when a 
Confederate sharp-shooter singled him out and aimed a minie-bullet, which 
passed through his brain, and he fell dead beside a cannon. His body was 
brought to the rear and laid upon the porch of Mr. Alsop's house. The 
army had lost a noble commander, who had the love and confidence of his 
troops, who was ever calm and brave in battle. 

Gen. Horatio G. Wright was appointed to succeed him in command 
of the Sixth Corps. 

When General Grant saw that Lee had taken the troops under Early 
from the extreme left of his line and transferred them to his right, he did 
not hurry the Second Corps eastward to confront Lee's movement, but 
directed Hancock to move down to the River Po, leaving Mott's division 
to hold Todd's Tavern. I follow^ed Hancock's troops as they went across 
the farm of Mr. Hart. Birney's division was on the extreme right. Gib- 
bon's in the centre, and Barlow's on the left, occupying in part the ground 
held by Robinson's division of the Fifth Corps on Sunday. It was nearly 
night, and the sun going down through leaden clouds. The day had been 
very hot, but a delicious coolness was wafted across the advancing lines by 
a gentle breeze. Barlow's men were leading, pressing steadily on over un- 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 



107 



dnlatiiig pasture-lands, through fringes of forest, into a meadow, across it 
into a tliicket of pines. Shells were exploding above them, solid shot 
were ploughing furrows in the earth, and the muskets of the skirmishers 
flashing. General Hancock was seated upon liis horse, with his staff 
around him. The Confederate artillerj^men sent a shell towards the group. 
Two or three of the horses were uneasy as it came spinning past them, but 
no officer paid any attention 
to it. Riding forward and 
mounting a breastwork thrown 
up by the Fifth Corps, I had 
a view of what was going on. 
The Second Corps batteries, to 
my right — thirty guns — ^were 
sending shells over the heads 
of the advancing troops upon 
a line of Confederates in an 
orchard on the south bank of 
the Po. Barlow's men were 
close upon the Confederates, 
and the muskets on both sides 
were flaming as the sun went 
down. Gradually the uproar 
died away as night came on. 
The engineers of the Second 
Corps hastened down to the 
Po, and before morning three 

bridges had been constructed, the three divisions of the Second Corps had 
crossed, and were in position to move towards Spottsylvania. It was Gen- 
eral Grant's intention to gain the rear of General Lee. Had we been at 
the court-house during the night, we should have seen General Lee's 
tent with his flag beside it, pitched beneath the trees in the court-house 
grounds. The Confederate commander, as has been said, had moved Early 
from the left of his line round to its extreme right. The biographer of 
General Lee says that he did so to place his army squarely across the path 
of General Grant in his movement to Richmond ;(') but Lee's army, and 
not Richmond, was what General Grant was after, and Hancock's move- 
ment threatened Lee's rear and the loss of his trains, Mdiich were on an- 
other road a short distance south. So it came about that the tired troops 
of General Early were quickly brought back past the court-house, up the 
Shady Grove road, to Glady Run. The moment they arrived upon the 




GENERAL SEDGWICK. 



108 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

ground they threw down their guns, and went to work with axes and 
shovels, building breastworks along the southern bank of the little stream. 
The main body of the troops did not stop there, but crossed Glady Run, 
and came into position on the farm of Mr. Chewnig. General Mahone's 
division was on the right, and Heth's on the left, towards Mr. AVaite's 
shop. (') General Hampton, with a division of cavalrj^, was holding the 
roads. 

The river Po is a very crooked stream. Where Hancock had laid his 
bridges it runs east, then it turns south, and south-west. Although the 
troops of the Second Corps had crossed it, they were only in a great bend 
of the stream, and must cross it again at Block House Bridge to gain the 
rear of Lee. The Confederates under Early were placed in position to 
hold the bridge. 

The forenoon witnessed the troops of Hancock on the one side, and 
Early on the other, preparing for a conflict ; but just as General Han- 
cock was ready to begin his attack he received an order 

Mav 10,1864. ,. ^, i -n r i , -,11 t - , -i 

rrom General Meade to withdraw ins troops and move east- 
ward ; that three Confederate lines in the centre were to be assaulted, and 
that he was to have charge of the troops in the attack. So we see Gib- 
bon's division followed by Birney's recrossing the Po, and marching east- 
ward, leaving Barlow's division alone on the farm of Mr. Chewnig. The 
skirmishers of Barlow were hotly engaged at two o'clock, when he re- 
ceived orders to recross the stream. His men did not want to retire ; 
nor could they without a battle, for the Confederates under Early, think- 
ing that a great opportunity was before them of annihilating Barlow's 
division, pressed eagerly forward. The Union artillery had been with- 
drawn across the bridges, but the batteries came into position on the north 
bank of the stream. There were only two Union brigades, Brooks's and 
Barlow's, against Early's two divisions. General Hancock has given this 
account of the battle : 

" The combat became close and bloody ; the enemy in vastly superior 
numbers, flushed with the anticipation of an easy victory, appeared deter- 
mined to crush the small force opposing them, and pressing forward with 
loud yells, forced their way close up to our line, delivering a terrible mus- 
ketry fire as they advanced. Our brave troops again resisted their onset 
with undaunted resolution. Their Are along the whole line was so contin- 
uous and deadly that the enemy found it impossible to withstand it, but 
broke again and retreated in the wildest disorder, leaving the ground in 
our front strewed with their dead and wounded. During the heat of this 
contest the woods on the right and rear of our troops took fire. The 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 109 

flames ]iad now approached close to our line, rendering it almost impossi- 
ble to retain the position longer. The last bloody repulse of the enemy 
had quieted him for a time, and during this lull in the fight General Bar- 
low directed Brooks and Brown to abandon their position and retire across 
thePo."(^) 

Two guns of Arnold's battery had been retained south of the river, 
and the horses, frightened by the fire and exploding shells, became unman- 
ageable, ran away, dragging a cannon between two trees, where it became 
80 firmly wedged that it could not be removed. The artillerymen were 
obliged to leave it. It was the first gun ever lost by the Second Corps. 
Miles's and Smythe's brigades, farther west, were the last to retire. When 
the Confederates attempted to advance they were met by a destructive fire 
from the Union artillery." 

Nothing had been gained by the movement across the Po, and the 
withdrawal of the Second Corps is generally regarded as a mistake, for 
had Hancock's three divisions moved on, it would have undoubtedly com- 
pelled General Lee to take a new position ; besides, there was not time for 
Hancock to join Warren and Wright and assault the Confederate centre 
before night set in. 

The uproar of battle was growing louder, and drawing nearer as the 
troops changed position. The air was thick with smoke from cannon and 
musket, and the cloud hung low; the western wind drifted the sulphur- 
ous fumes across the field, where the negroes had established their hos- 
pital tent, and where upon the ground lay hundreds of wounded. I 
beheld men with bandaged heads and limbs ; those who had lost an 
arm or foot;- those with ghastly wounds, from which their life-blood 
was flowing with every heart-beat. I had been so long with the army 
that the soldiers recognized me as a correspondent, and were eager for 
news. 

" How is the battle going ? Are they driving us ? Will the boys hold 
them ?" 

Such the questions ; natural questions they were, and there was solici- 
tude in them, for if the Confederates were to sweep back their comrades, 
the hundreds of wounded would become prisoners of war. 

" I do not think that the enemy can drive us ; our position is a strong 
one," was my reply. It was a cheery word spoken for their comfort. A 
soldier who had just lost his left arm, who was weak and faint from 
the amputation, with his heart all aglow for the old flag, broke into the 
song which through the war had been sung by the bivouac fire and on the 
march : 



110 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

"We are marching to the field, bo3's; we're going to tlie fight, 
Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom. 
And we bear the glorious Stars for the Union and the Right, 
Shouting th^battle-cry of Freedom." 

It was like the quaffing of wine to weak and fainting men wlio heard 
it, and all around I saw them lift themselves — some to stand erect, others 
half reclining, swinging their caps as they joined in the chorus : 

"The Union forever, hurrah, boys, hurrah! 

Down with the traitor, up with the Stars, 
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again. 
Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom." (^) 

Let us now see what was beino; done in the centre during: the after- 
noon. It was six o'clock before Cutler's and Crawford's divisions of the 
Fifth, and Webb's and Carroll's brigades of the Second Corps, under 
Gibbon, were in position. They were in a thicket of young pines and 
cedars. So close and compact the trees that the troops could make their 
way only by crouching. They passed through the thicket, came into an 
open field to be cut to pieces by a terrific fire, but on across the field up 
to the Confederate breastworks they rushed, to find themselves amid the 
interlaced branches of fallen trees. Some of Carroll's men reached the 
breastworks, but only to yield their lives.('°) 

The troops were swept back in disorder. General Hancock arrived 
and attacked again, with Birney's and Gibbon's divisions, and a portion 
of the troops of the Fifth Corps, just as the sun was sinking in the west ; 
but the remorseless fire of the Confederates again swept them back. 

As we go north from this position we come to the Sixth Corps, be- 
hind its intrenchments w^est of the house of Mr. McCool. General Wright 
has been out to the skirmish line and looked at the Confederate position 
held by Rodes's and Johnson's divisions. Dole's brigade was behind in- 
trenchments in the open ground two hundred yards from a thicket of 
pines. The Confederate soldiers had made an abatis in front of their 
breastwork, and, seemingly fearful that they might not be able to hold the 
position, had constructed a second line in rear of the first. General Wright 
believed that the front line could be captured, and selected Upton's and 
Russell's brigades and four regiments of Neill's to make the attack. An 
assault was to be made farther up the line, north, by Mott's division. It 
was to be at the point where the Confederate breastworks turned a right 
angle eastward, on the farm of Mr. Landron. Upton formed his men 
in four lines. Quietly they picked their way in the cedar thicket. 
Through the afternoon the Union cannon had been raining shells upon 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. Ill 

the Confederate works. The Union artillerymen see a signal, and instead 
of ramming home the cartridges, stand beside their pieces. They hear a 
hurrah — the v^oices of the men who upon the instant break from the thick- 
et into the open ground, and rush across the field towards the house of 
Mr. McCool. The Confederate breastworks are fringed with fire, but in 
an instant the Union men are upon them ; there is a hand-to-hand strug- 
gle. Five minutes — in this brief space more than one thousand Union men 
have fallen ; but the line of works has been carried, and more than one 
thousand prisoners, with several stands of colors, have been captured. (") 
The Confederates brought up reinforcements and assaulted in turn, but 
were repulsed, and the sun went down with the Union troops holding 
the intrenchments. Mott's attack up at the angle had resulted in fail- 
ure. His troops had been repulsed, and Upton and Russell were left 
in such an exposed position that when night came on, after the re- 
moval of the wounded, the troops who had won the breastworks by 
such a heroic charge w^ere ordered back. Reluctantly they obeyed the 
command. 

Among the wounded was Gen. James C. Rice, who, when the war 
began, enlisted as a private in the Garibaldi Regiment of New York. 
He had lived for nine years as a school-teacher in Natchez, Mississippi. 
He had seen what slavery was. He was deeply religious, and enlisted to 
fight for his country from a deep consciousness of duty and obligation. 
It does not take long for such a man as he was to find his true place. 
He was selected to be lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-fourth New York, 
and so distinguished himself in the battle of Gettysburg that President 
Lincoln commissioned him a brigadier-general, in the rush upon the 
intrenchments he received a mortal wound. 1 was in the woods behind 
the assaulting troops when those appointed to care for the wounded 
came back with him upon a stretcher. He was in great pain, and wished 
to be turned over. 

"How will you lie?" asked the surgeon. "Let me lie with my face 
to the enemy." C^) They were his last words. A few moments and the 
heaving heart was still forever. 

It was nearly eleven o'clock in the evening when I dismounted from 
my horse at the headquarters of General Grant. He was sitting on a 
camp-chair smoking a cigar. The only person present was Hon. E. B. 
Washburne, member of Congress, liis most intimate friend from Galena, 
his old home in Illinois, who had been instrumental in bringing about 
General Grant's appointment as lieutenant-general. There were times 
when the commander-in-chief was reticent upon all subjects. He has 



112 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC 

been called, like AVilliam of the Netherlands, the Silent Commander; but 
there were times also when General Grant gave free expression to his 
thoughts. I asked for information in regard to the events of the day, 
that I might communicate it to readers far away, which was kindly given ; 
and then, not in response to any question, he said : " We have had hard 
fighting to-day, and I am sorry to say we have not accomplished much. 
We have lost a good many men, and I suppose that I shall be blamed 
for it." He was silent a moment, and then added : " 1 do not know any 
way to put down this rebellion and restore the authority of the Govern- 
ment except by fighting, and fighting means that men must be killed. 
If the people of this country expect that the war can be conducted to 
a successful issue in any other way than by fighting, they must get some- 
body other than myself to command the army." 

Again he was silent ; bat after a brief pause, resumed the conversation, 
and unfolded the great plan of the campaign which had been inaugu- 
rated in the West under General Sherman. "We are having a hard 
time here, because my orders have not been complied with in the West. 
When I became commander of all the troops, General Banks was on his 
way up the Red River. I sent directions for his return. Whether or 
not the orders ever reached him I do not know. ('') I intended that 
he should hasten with his force to New Orleans, join General Canby in 
command there, and that the united force should hasten to Mobile, capt- 
ure that place, and move northward, which would compel the Confeder- 
ates under General Johnston to give way before Sherman, who is having 
almost as hard a time as I have here." At this moment there was the 
tramping of hoofs, and General Meade rode up in the darkness and dis- 
mounted, and the correspondent comprehending that they would wish to 
be alone departed to his quarters. ('^) 

The following morning saw Hon. E. B. Washburne and myself sit- 
ting on our horses in front of General Grant's headquarters. We were 
about to start for Washington via Fredericksburg and Ac- 
' ' quia Creek on horseback, and thence by special steamer. 

" Have you any word to send to the President or the Secretary of 
War?" asked Mr. Washburne. "I will send a brief note," was the reply. 
A few moments later General Grant appeared with a letter addressed to 
General Halleck, which Mr. Washburne placed in his pocket. We did 
not know that a single sentence in that note would electrify the world. 
This the sentence : " I am now sending back to Belle Plain all my 
wagons for a fresh supply of provisions, and I propose to jight it out on 
this line, if it takes all summer.''- {''') 



,'j£'^i> 




'I PROPOSE TO FIGHT IT OUT ON THIS LINE, IF IT TAKES ALL SITiniER. 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 115 

There was no fighting through the day except in front of General 
Mott's division, who drove back the Confederate picket Hne that the 
engineers might get a little nearer to the Confederate works, and that 
they might peer through their field-glasses from behind trees, to find out 
how the breastworks were constructed. They reported to General Grant 
that the angle, shaped somewhat like the letter V, between the house of 
Mr. Landron and Mr. McCool, was a point M-hich, in their opinion, might 
be successfully attacked. General Grant thereupon determined to attack 
along the entire line, while the Second Corps, under Hancock, supported 
by the Sixth, was to carry the works at the angle. If an attack were to 
be made everywhere at the same moment. General Lee would not be 
able to withdraw troops from any part of the line to assist those defend- 
ing that portion of the line. 

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when General Grant wrote an 
order to Hancock to move his corps in rear of the Fifth and Sixth, and 
come into position between the Sixth and Ninth. The march was not 
to be made till after dark. He wrote an order to Burnside to be ready 
at four o'clock the next morning with his entire force, and to attack with 
all possible vigor. He was to make his preparations with the utmost 
secrecy. Two members of Grant's staff were sent to impress upon Burn- 
side the importance of a most energetic assault. ('') The Fifth and Sixth 
corps were to be under arms and in line to improve any advantage that 
might be gained. 

The night was dark and cloudy, rain was falling, but the men of the 
Second Corps were making their way along a narrow path through the 
woods. The heavy rain turned the earth to a mortar-bed. For a week 
the soldiers had been on the march or in battle. Through all the days 
there has not been an hour when one could not hear either the boom of 
cannon, the volleys of musketry, or the rattling fire of the pickets. The 
soldiers were weary, but on through the deep mire, their clothes drenched 
with the falling rain, they marched without a murmur. At midnight 
they came into position in the woods between the houses of Brown and 
Landron, throwing themselves on the ground just in rear of the picket 
line. No word was spoken. There had been no rattling of canteens, no 
clanking of swords. In silence, like spectres, they had marched through 
the mire and gloom of the night, and now they were waiting for the 
dawn. 

With their compasses the engineers during the day had taken from 
Landron's the position of the breastworks, and now they set them, exam- 
ining them by striking a match to get the right direction. 



11(3 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



Birney's division was on tlie right. The men must cross a marsh, creep 
through a dense tliicket of young j^ines, growing where the j)longli once 
turned its furrows, where slaves had once hoed tobacco — 
land worn-out for cultivation and turned to wood. 
Barlow's division was on the left, with a clear field before him. Gib- 
bon's division and Mott's were in reserve. 



May 12, 18G4. 




'tsiy-y ^^ 




.' i 



;\ ^^' 



ir^>y^ 



^?M: 



" „^--^ ;^/-J^^g^gi/si<^^•^^rTSi?' 



T^E FIELD OF THE BLOODY ANGLE. 

The Confederate breastworks are dimly seen along the edge of the woods at the right. They were held 
by Gen. Edward Johnson's division. The Second Corps of the Union army, under Hancock, charged 
from the woods at the left. The Sixth Corps came to the assistance of the Second across the fore- 
ground. Upton's troops were to the right, upon ground not included in the view. 



The division commanders have timed their watches. Day is breaking. 
The fog •hangs low. It is a half-mile to the Confederate intrenchments. 

Barlow has four brigades — Brooks's, with the Second Delaware, Sixty- 
fourth and Sixty-sixth ISTew York, Fifty-third, One Hundred and Forty- 
fifth, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania; Miles's — the Twen- 
ty-sixth Michigan, Sixty-first New York, Eighty-first, One Hundred and 
Fortieth, One Hundred and Eighty-third Pennsylvania: these in the front 
line, with Smythe's and Brown's brigades in the second line. 

On through the low shrubbery, out into tlie open fields they move, 
keeping even step till, in the gray of the morning, they see the dim out- 
line of the works, and then with a cheer they rush on in solid mass. A 
single volley flames in their faces as they run up the slope. The next 
moment they are over the works, charging with the bayonet. 

Between three and four thousand confederates surrender themselves ; 
nearly the whole of General Johnson's division — ^twenty cannon, caissons, 
and horses, several thousand muskets, and thirty colors — are taken. 

With the killed and wounded, Lee has lost in a moment nearly five 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 117 

thousand troops. Those not captured flee through the woods towards the 
second line of intrenchments, nearer the court-house. Hancock's men 
rush after them. Barlow's advance is at the east angle, held by Stuart's 
and York's Confederate brigades. 

Owen's and Carroll's brigades of Gibbon's division are close behind 
Barlow, and at the decisive moment come pouring over the intrench- 
ments, ca23turing two of Stuart's cannon, wheeling them round and send- 
ing shells into the fleeing Confederates. Birney's division, followed by 
Mott's, carry the west angle held by Terry's, Walker's, and Battle's 
brigades. 

It was not wholly a surprise to the Confederates. Their pickets had 
been sending in word that the Union troops were moving on Brown's 
and Landron's farms. General Lee thought that Grant was endeavor- 
ing to turn his flank, and withdrew a portion of the artillery along the 
intrenchments to move the batteries to the court-house; but at day- 
light it was on its way back. Johnson had sent word to Lee that he w^as 
to be attacked. His own troops were ready, and Gordon's division was 
also ready to support him. Gordon had placed Evans's brigade by the 
McCool house, and Pegram's and R. D. Johnston's to support Rodes's 
division. 

The success of the charge threw Birney and Barlow into confusion. 
The men were in a mass, the regiments disorganized. In their entliusi- 
asm they rushed after the retreating Confederates. A Confederate officer 
gives this account of the state of affairs behind the breastworks : 

"After the artillery had been withdrawn on the night of the 11th, 
General Johnson discovered that the enemy was concentrating on his 
front, and convinced that he would be attacked, requested the return of 
the artillery that had been taken away. Tlie men in the trenches were 
kept on the alert all night and were ready for tlie attack, when at dawn on 
the morning of the 12tli a dense column emerged from the pines half a 
mile in front of the salient, and rushed to the attack. . They came on, to 
use General Johnson's words, in great disorder, with a narrow front, but 
extending back as far as I could see. Page's battalion of artillery, which 
had been ordered back at four o'clock, were just arriving, and were not in 
position to fire upon the attacking column ; the guns came just in time to 
be caj)tured. The infantry fought as long as fighting was of any use, 
but they could do little to check the onward rush of the Federal column, 
which soon overran the salient, capturing General Johnson himself, twen- 
ty pieces of artillery, and twenty-eight hundred men — almost his entire 
division. . . . Lane's brigade of Hill's corps, which was immediately on 



118 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

the riglit of tlie captured works, rapidly drew back to the unfinished hne 
in rear, and poured a galling fire upon their left wing, which checked its 
advance, and threw it back with severe loss. General Gordon, whose 
division was in reserve, and under orders to support any part of the line 
about the salient, hastened to throw it in front of the advancing Federal 
column. As the division was about to charge, General Lee rode up and 
joined General Gordon, evidently intending to go forward with him. 
Gordon remonstrated, and the men, seeing his intention, cried out, 'General 
Lee to the rear!' which was taken up all along the line. One of the men 
respectfully but firmly took hold of the bridle and led his horse to the 
rear, and the charge went on. The two moving lines met in the rear of 
the captured works, and after a fierce struggle in the woods, the Federals 
were forced back to the base of the salient. On the left, where Rodes's 
division had connected with Johnson's, the attack was pressed with great 
determination. General Rodes drew out Ramseur's brigade from the left 
of his front line, a portion of Kershaw's division taking its place, and sent 
it to relieve the pressure on his right and restore the line between himself 
and Gordon. Ramseur did not fill the gap, and his right was exposed to 
a terrible fire from the works held by the enemy. Three brigades from 
Hill's corps were ordered up. Perrin's, which was the first to arrive, rushed 
forward through a fearful fire, and recovered a part of the line on Gor- 
don's left. General Perrin fell dead from his horse just as he reached 
the works. General Daniel had been killed, and Ramseur, though pain- 
fully wounded, remained in the trenches with his men. Rodes's right 
being hard pressed, Harris's Mississippi and McGowan's South Carolina 
brigades were ordered forward, and rushed through the blinding storm 
into the works on Ramseur's right." (") 

" Go to Hancock's assistance," was the order from Meade to Wright, 
commanding the Sixth Corps. 

Russell's and Wheaton's divisions, accompanied by Wright, came in 
upon Hancock's right near the McCool house. 

Wriffht was wounded at the outset, but did not leave the field. And 
now began one of the most stubborn contests recorded in history. The 
Confederates were on one side of the intrenchments, the Union troops 
on the other. It was six o'clock when A. P. Hill's troops come pouring 
through the woods to Gordon's assistance, capturing a few L^nion soldiers. 

General Hancock plants his artillery on a knoll on Brown's farm, 
sending shells over the heads of the men in blue. Upton's brigade, com- 
posed of the Fifth Maine, One Hundred and Twenty-first New York. 
Xinety-fifth and Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania, crossed the north-western an 



SPOTTSYLVANIl. 119 

gle of the salient, to support the troops of the Second Corps, whicli were 
falling back towards the breastworks before the advance of Hill's troops. 
Colonel Upton determined to hold the angle at all hazards. Equally 
determined were the Confederates to regain it. The smoke was dense, 
the clouds hanging low, and rain falling. Through the woods came the 
Confederates, firing their guns and charging up to the breastworks, and 
the fierce hand-to-hand struggle begun. 

In rear of Upton's men is Metcalf's Battery C, Fifth United States 
Artillery. General Wright is watching the struggle, and rides to Met- 
calf, points towards the angle, and the artillerymen hear this order :('*) 
"Limber the guns! Drivers, mount ! Cannoneers, mount! Caissons to 
the rear !" The drivers lash their horses, and they leap forward tow- 
ards the thickening cloud and into the pitiless tempest of leaden rain. 
The staff-officer leading them tumbles from his horse. The guns wheel 
into position, and send round after round of canister into the Confed- 
erate ranks with terrible effect. How rapidly the battery-men went down 
is thus told by one of them : 

" Our section went into action with twenty-three men and one officer — 
Lieutenant Metcalf. The only ones who came out sound were the lieu- 
tenant and myself ; every horse was killed outright, seven of the men 
killed, sixteen wounded. The gun-carriages were so cut with bullets as to 
be of no further service. . . . Twenty-seven balls passed through the lid of 
the limber-chest while Number Six was getting out ammunition, and he 
was wounded in the face and neck by the fragments of wood and lead. 
The sponge-bucket on my gun had thirty-nine holes in it, being perforated 
like a sieve." ('^) 

Capt. John D. Fish, of Colonel Upton's staff, rode through the storm, 
carrying the cartridges from the caissons to the guns. " Give it to them, 
boys! ril bring you the canister!" he shouted; but the next moment 
reeled from his saddle mortally wounded. The guns were up to the 
breastworks, their muzzles almost projecting over the logs. Lnmediately 
in rear were the dead and dying horses and men. Within three feet of 
one another, separated only by the breastworks, were Union and Con- 
federate, crouching in the mud, loading, raising their guns, and firing 
at random; their tattered, bullet -riddled colors hanging limp against 
their staves in the falling rain. Pack-mules with boxes of ammunition, 
three thousand rounds in each box, were brought as near as possible to 
the troops, dropped upon the ground, and the soldiers crept out on their 
hands and knees and brought them in. A Union soldier thus pictures the 
struoffjle : 



120 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

"Sometimes the enemy's fire would slacken, and the moments would 
become so monotonous that something had to be done to stir them up. 
Then some resolute fellow would seize a fence-rail or piece of abatis, and 
throw it over among the enemy, and then drop upon the ground to avoid 
the volley that was sure to follow. A daring lieutenant in one of our left 
companies leaped upon the breastworks, took a rifle that was handed him, 
and discharged it. In like manner he discharged a second, and was in the 
act of firing a third shot when his cap flew in the air, and his body pitched 
headlong among the enemy. On several occasions squads of disheartened 
Confederates raised pieces of shelter-tents above the works as a flag of 
truce ; upon our slacking fire and calling them to come in, they would 
immediately jump upon the breastworks and surrender. One party of 
twenty or thirty thus signified their willingness to submit, but owing to 
the fact that their comrades occasionally took advantage to get a volley 
into us, it was some time before we concluded to give them a chance. 
With levelled pieces we called upon them to come in. Springing upon 
the breastworks in a body, they stood for an instant panic-stricken at the 
terrible array before them ; that momentary delay was a signal for their 
destruction. While, with our fingers pressing the trigger, we shouted to 
them to jump, their troops massed in the rear poured a volley into them, 
killing or wounding all but a few, who dropped with the rest and crawled 
in under our pieces, while we instantly began firing. ... So heavy was our 
fire that the head-logs of the breastworks were cut and torn until they 
resembled hickory brooms. Several large oak-trees, which grew just in 
rear of the works, were completely gnawed off by our converging fire."(") 
One tree, twenty-two inches in diameter, was gradually eaten oft", and fell 
with a crash upon the Confederates. 

It was half-past nine when the troops of the Fifth Corps advanced, 
but were received by so destructive a fire that they were withdrawn by 
General Humphreys, chief of staff to General Meade. The Ninth Corps 
was ordered forward, and General Potter's division rushed upon the in- 
trenchments held by Lane's Confederate division of Hill's corps, and 
captured two cannon ; but Scales's and Thomas's brigades came to Lane's 
assistance, and Potter was obliged to retire without being able to carry 
off the guns. 

At nine o'clock there was another struggle. Wilcox's division of the 
Ninth Corps held the left of the Union line south of the Fredericksburg 
road. Heth's (Confederate) division was behind the intrenchments. Gen- 
eral Wilcox's men crept up through a pine thicket, but when they came 
into the open ground were met by a heavy fire. The Confederates moved 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 121 

to strike his flank, and the melee began. The struggle was fierce and des- 
perate. The uproar all along the lines in both armies aroused in Union 
and Confederate alike a resolute determination to carry on the struggle to 
the bitter end. 

A hundred cannon were thundering; there were continuous rolls of 
musketry from McCool's, north-west of the court-house, all tlie way round 
to Wilcox's division, south-east of it. The woods were smoking like a 
furnace. 

This the account of a brigade commander in the Second Corps : 
" It was not only a desperate struggle, but it was literally a hand-to- 
hand fight. I^othing but the piled-up logs, or breastworks, separated the 
combatants. Our men would reach over the logs and fire into the faces 
of the enemy ; would stab over with their bayonets ; many were shot and 
stabbed through the crevices and holes between the logs ; men mounted 
the works, and with muskets rapidly handed them, kept up a continuous 
fire until they were shot down, when others would take their places and 
continue the deadly work. . . . Several times during the day the Rebels 
would show a white flag about the works, and when our fire slackened, 
jump over and surrender, and others w^ere crowded down to fill their 
places. ... It was there that the somewhat celebrated tree was cut off by 
bullets ; there that the brush and logs were cut to pieces and whipped into 
basket-stuff ; . . . there that the Rebel ditches and cross-sections were filled 
with dead men several deep. ... I was at the angle the next day. The 
sight was terrible and sickening, much worse than at Bloody Lane (Antie- 
tam). There a great many dead men were lying in the road and across 
the rails of the torn-down fences, and out in the cornfield ; but they were 
not piled up several deep, and their fiesh was not so torn and mangled as 

at the angle." C") 

Why such a struggle for a position which had no special military 
value? It was not for position, but a pounding to see which would stand 
it the longer. General Grant had attacked because he believed in crush- 
ing the Confederate army. Through the day the terrible contest went 
on. At midnight it ceased in front of Burnside, but up by McCool's 
the muskets rattled till past midnight, when Lee withdrew his troops to 
his second line of intrenchments, leaving the first line in the possession of 
the Sixth and Second corps. General Grant had lost seven thousand in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. It will never be known how many Lee 
lost ; but, with the prisoners, not less than ten thousand. 

The Confederate generals Daniel and Perrin were killed ; Walker, 
Ramseur, R. D. Johnston, and McGowan wounded ; Major-gen. Edward 



122 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Johnson and Brigadier Stuart taken prisoners. Three Union generals 
were wounded — Wright, Webb, and CarrolL 

After such a struggle there must of necessit}'' be a lulling of the 

storm ; but General Grant was everywhere along the lines, unmindful of 

the rain which fell through the day. lie was laying new 

' ' ' plans, and during the night moved the Fifth and Sixth 
corps past the Ninth, directing them to come into position south-east 
of Spottsylvania. The first battles were fought three miles north-west 
of the court-house, but this movement carried them half-way round a 
circle. So deep was the mire that the soldiers were obliged to cut trees 
and corduroy the roads. It was daylight before they came into position. 

General Upton's division charged upon the Confederates, who were 
intrenched upon a knoll, driving them, but was driven in turn. Gen- 
eral Ayres's brigade of the Fifth Corps came to Upton's 

Mav 14, 1864. ."^ ^ ^ r^ r -, iii, 

assistance, and the Confederates were compelled to aban- 
don their position. 

General Lee, seeing that their movement threatened his right flank, 
abandoned the intrenchments in front of the Second Corps, moved the 
troops which had held them down past the court-house, whereupon 
Grant directed Hancock to leave his intrenchments by Landron's and 
McCool's, and to march in rear of the other corps, to be ready for 
action whenever the moment was opportune. 

Like chess-players the two great commanders carried on the terrible 
game of war. Rain was falling the while, the mire becoming deeper, 
rendering the roads impassable, compelling General Grant to give up the 
plans which he had contemplated. 

The army needed rest. Reinforcements came — the heavy artillery, 
eight thousand, which had been guarding the forts around Washington. 
They were no longer needed there. 

General Lee no doubt desired to strike a blow in turn which would be 

as effective as that which Grant had given on Landron's farm. From his 

scouts he learned the position of the several corps of the 

' ' Union army, and decided to send General Ewell from his 

extreme left, from the ground where the first battle was fought, past the 

house of Mr. Alsop, to gain the rear of General Grant's right flank. 

A farmer who knew every foot went through the woods as his guide. 
It was five o'clock in the afternoon when the head of Ewell's column ap- 
peared west of the road leading to Fredericksburg, and west of Mr. Harris's 
house, near which were General Grant's headquarters. Colonel Kitching s 
brigade and General Tyler's division of heavy artillery were near the road. 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 



123 













.4. 



rf^l 



dj-' 



^^^i?# ' 









THE HOUSE OP MR. McCOOL. 



Colonel Kitcliing's pickets discovered Ewell's advance, and came running 
up with the news. 

I was at General Grant's headquarters. 

" Pack up those wagons ; harness the horses ; quick !" It was the order 
of the provost marshal General Patrick. Ten minutes and tlie trains 
were packed ready to move. (") 

TJiere came a ripple of musketry from the woods, and then volley 
upon volley. It was the first engagement for the soldiers of the heavy 



124 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

artillery, and tliongli tliey had been practising with heavy cannon they 
were at home with the musket, and sent their volleys upon Ewell's advan- 
cing line. 

The Fifth Corps was nearer than either of the others, and the Mary- 
land brigade came np on the run, followed by Birney's division of the Sec- 
ond Corj)s. 

If Ewell had any thought of creating a stampede, he did not have an 
opportunity to carry out his plan. He was held at bay by Kitching and 
Tyler, and when Birney arrived was driven step by step. The sun went 
down, with flashes of light gleaming in the thickets. At nine o'clock 
Ewell gave up the struggle, having lost nearly one thousand men. He 
had found out where a portion of Grant's troops were, but had accom- 
plished nothing more. 

E'early three weeks had gone by, with continuous stubborn fighting ; 
scarcely an hour of silence the while, but a ceaseless cannonade or mus- 
ketry, either the firing of pickets or roll of volleys by brigades and divis- 
ions. Never before had there been such a struggle in this Western 
World. 

More than twenty-eight thousand men had been killed or wounded in 
the Union army, and nearly five thousand had been taken prisoners or 
were missing, making a loss of thirty-three thousand. Many were only 
slio-htly wounded, and in a few weeks were out of the hospital and once 
more with their regiments. There are no returns of Confederate losses, 
l)ut it is supposed that the killed, wounded, and missing from General 
Lee's army were from twenty to twent3'-five thousand. 

Leaving now the infantry of the Army of the Potomac, let us see what 
the cavalry under General Sheridan was doing. We have seen (p. 99) that 
General Meade, at Todd's Tavern, issued orders to the cav- 
May 8, 1864. ^^^_^^^ interfering with orders issued by General Sheridan, 
who remonstrated. There was a wide difference of opinion in regard 
to the cavalry between the two commanders, and on Sunday forenoon, 
while the fight was going on at Alsop's farm, high words passed be- 
tween them. General Meade said that the cavalry, by occupying the 
Brook road, prevented the troops from marching, to which General Sheri- 
dan replied that if that was the case, General Meade himself had ordered 
the troops to occupy the road, without notifying him ; and he further said 
that General Meade had broken up his plans, and had needlessly exposed 
General Wilson's division, while Gregg's was kept idle. The two com- 
manders were greatly irritated. Said Sheridan: ''I can whip Stuart, 
if you will let me ; but since you insist on giving the cavalry directions 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 125 

without consulting or even notifying me, hereafter yon may command 
the cavalry yourself ; T will not issue another order." Saying this, he left 
General Meade's tent. We do not know just what General Meade 
thouglit of this man from the West, who, at Stone River, nnder Rosecrans, 
when the exultant Confederates were sweeping all before them, stood with 
liis division like a rock upon the shore of the sea, hurling back the bil- 
lows, and who swept like a whirlwind up the slope of Missionary liidge. 
Whatever were General Meade's thoughts and feelings, he could not keep 
them to himself, but w^ent at once to General Grant and repeated the con- 
versation. 

" Did he say that he could whip Stuart ?" 

" Yes." 

"Very well. Then let him go and do it."(") 

It was not an order in peremptory language to General Meade ; but 
nevertheless it was an order which must be obeyed, and so we see General 
Meade's chief of staff, General Humphreys, at one o'clock on that Sun- 
day afternoon, issuing an order to Sheridan "to proceed against the 
enemy's cavalry, and when his supplies are exhausted, proceed via Kew 
Market and Green Bay to llaxall's Landing, on the James River, there 
communicating with General Butler, procure supplies, and returning to 
this army." (") 

While the sun is going down on that Sunday afternoon we see Sheri- 
dan giving his instructions to his three division commanders, Gregg, 
Merritt, and Wilson. 

" We are going to fight Stuart's cavalry in consequence of a suggest- 
ion from me. We M'ill give him a fair square fight. We are strong, and 
I know we can beat him. I shall expect nothing but success." (") 

With alacrity the three commanders prepared for the movement. 

Early in the morning the cavalry was in motion, moving as if to go 
to Fredericksburg ; going east nearly to Hamilton's Crossing, where Gen- 
eral Meade's division fought Stonewall Jackson in the bat- 

Mav 9, 1864. , ,. t^ i . , , , . , , . , 

tie or I' rederickshurg, then turning south, the entn-e col- 
umn being thirteen miles in leno^th and movin(y towards the ^STortli Anna 
River. 

The scouts of the Confederates, looking towards the east, saw a long 
cloud of dust rising above the tree-tops, and sent word to General Stuart, 
who directed Fitz-IIugh Lee to attack Sheridan's rear, while Stuart him- 
self, with his other divisions, moved also towards the North Anna, to get 
between Sheridan and Richmond. General Stuart was a very able com- 
mander, but he made a mistake at the outset. He knew that Sheridan 



126 KEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

had a force larger than his own. By dividing his command he greatly 

weakened it. General Sheridan detailed Davies's brigade to guard his 

rear. Fitz-Hugh Lee came up w4th Davies just after the last of the 

column crossed the Po River, but it Was very easy for to resist the 

attack, and then move on. Just as the sun was going down, Merritt's 

division reached the l^ortli Anna, and crossed it. The three divisions 

watered their horses in the stream. The ^ ^nd been no hard riding, but 

an easy gait, which did not break dow norses. Custer's brigade 

pressed on to Beaver Dam Station, on t uentral Railroad, came npon 

a body of Confederates and scattered tliem, recaptured four hundred 

Union prisoners who had been taken in the Wilderness, destroyed two 

locomotives, three trains of cars and ninety wagons, and more than two 

hundred thousand pounds of bacon, and nearly all the medical stores of 

General Lee's army. The soldiers rode along the railroad, and in a short 

time tore up six miles of the track. 

General Stuart was concentrating his troops at Beaver Dam Station, 

but Sheridan, instead of stopping to fight him there, was moving south 

along the Neo-ro-foot road towards Richmond ; and the Con- 
May 10, 1864. r ^ ^ , . , .1,-, 

lederate commander, seeing what a mistake he had made, 
endeavored once more to get between Sheridan and the Confederate 
capital by urging his troops on at a speed which soon broke down many 
of the horses ; but by hard riding Stuart, on AVednesday morning, reached 
a famous old hotel known as Yellow Tavern, seven miles north of Rich- 
mond, in advance of Sheridan. 

There in the woods and fields, early in the morning, Stuart posted his 
brigades for a battle. The Union troops were at Ashland, w^liere a train 
of cars were captured and a locomotive destroyed. In the 
march to Yellow Tavern General Merritt's division was 
in advance, Wilson's came next, followed by Gregg's. They were uj^on 
the Brook road— the same on which the battles of the Wilderness and 
Spottsylvania had been fought, and now again the cavalry was upon it, 
for a battle near the Confederate capital. General Merritt was quick to 
attack, and he soon drove the Confederates eastward of the turnpike. 

General Sheridan gives this brief account of what followed : " I 
quickly brought up Wilson's and one of Gregg's brigades, to take advan- 
tage of the situation by forming a line of battle on that side of the road. 
Meanwhile the enemy, desperate but still confident, poured in a heavy 
fire from his line, and from a battery which enfiladed the Brock road, 
and made Yellow Tavern an uncomfortably hot place. Gibbs's and Dev- 
in's brigades, however, held fast there, while Custer, supported by Chap- 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 



127 




GEN. WESLEY MERRITT. 



man's brigade, attacked the enemy's left and battery in a mounted charge. 
Beginning at a walk, the troops increased their gait to a trot, and then 
at full speed rushed towards the enemy. At the same moment the dis- 
mounted troops along my whole front moved forward, and as Custer went 
through the battery, capturing two of the guns, with their cannoneers, and 
breakmg up the enemy's left, Gibbs and Devin broke his centre and rio-ht 



12S REDEEMING THE KEPUELIC. 

from tlie field, (iregg meanwhile cliarged the force in his rear — Gordon's 
brigade — and the engagement ended by giving us complete control of the 
road to Richmond. AV^e captured a number of prisoners, and the casual- 
ties on both sides were quite severe, General Stuart himself falling mor- 
tally wounded, and Gen, James B. Gordon, one of his brigade commanders, 

being killed." (") 

General Sheridan was inside the outer intrenchments around Eich- 
mond, but all the clerks in the Departments, and all the troops that could 
be gathered up, had been hurried out to hold the inner line of defence, 
and General Sheridan made no attempt to enter the city. The Confed- 
erates planted torpedoes along the road which they supposed he would 
take, and laid along the ground wires which, when tripped by the horses' 
feet, exploded the torpedoes ; but General Sheridan compelled the pris- 
oners he had taken to go in advance and remove the wires, so no one was 
injured. The Confederates had destroyed the bridges across the Chick- 
ahominy, and thought that they had him in a trap, but he rebuilt one 
under a good deal of difficulty. Once more he accepted battle, the Con- 
federate cavalry being reinforced by the infantry from Richmond, but 
repulsed all attacks, crossed the Chickahominy, and went 
" '^^ " ' ■ on to General Butler, reaching James River on the 14th, 
recruiting his horses, leaving his wounded, and returning to the Army of 
the Potomac on the 24th. 

There was commotion in Richmond during these days — the ringing 
of church bells calling the able-bodied men and boys to the Capitol 
Square, to be armed and hurried to the trenches for the defence of the 
city. A clerk in the Confederate War Department recorded the scenes 
in his diary, May 11th : 

" At midnight the Departmental Battalion was marched from the 
south side of the river back to the city, but at 9 a.m. tliey were marched 
hurriedly to Meadow Bridge. They came past our house. Custis and his 
brother Thomas ran in, remaining but a moment. Custis exclaimed : 
' Let me have some money, mother, or we will starve. The Government 
don't feed us, and we are almost famished. . . . The Secretary issued this 
morning a new edition of his hand-bills calling the people to arms. Mr. 
Malldry's usual red face turned purple. He has not yet got out the iron- 
clad, liklimond^ which might have sunk Butler's transports. . . . The 
Governor has issued a notification that the enemy will be here to-day. 
All classes not in the army were gathered up and marched to the defences. 
Mr. Memminger (Secretary of Treasury) is said to have been frighten- 
ed terribly, and arrangements were made for flight. . . . May 12. The 




if 








SHKIUDAX AND STUAKT S FIGHT. 



SPOTTSYI.VANIA. 131 

report of General Lee's victory was premature, and Butler lias not gone, 
nor the raiders vanished. On the contrary, the latter were engaged in 
battle with Stuart's division hite in the afternoon, and recommenced it tliis 
morning at three o'clock, the enemy remaining on the ground, and still 
remain some live miles from where I write. Major-gen. J. E. B. Stuart 
was wounded last evening through the kidney, and now lies in the city in 
a dying condition. The battle raged furiously ; every gun distinctly 
heard at our house until 1 p.m., the enemy being intrenched between our 
middle and outer line of works. Meantime our ambulances are arriving 
every hour with the wounded, coming in by the Brook turnpike, ... It 
is said that pi^eparations have been made for the flight of the President 
and Cabinet up the Danville road in the event of the fall of the city. . . . 
The enemy disappeared in the night. We suffered most in the several en- 
gagements near the city. But the joy of many and the chagrm of some 
at his escape so easily was soon followed by the startling intelligence that 
a raid from General Butler's army had cut the Danville road. (A force 
of cavalry sent out under General Kautz.) All communication with the 
country, from which provisions are derived, is now completely at an end ! 
Colonel Northrop told me to-day that unless the railroads were retaken and 
repaired he could not feed the troops ten days longer." (") 

Those were sad days in Richmond which witnessed the death and 
burial of General Stuart. He had shown great ability as a cavalry com- 
mander, and was greatly beloved. This the closing scene of 
his life, as recorded by the editor of one of the newspapers : 

" His worldly matters closed, the eternal interests of his soul engaged 
his mind. Turning to the Hev: Mr. Peterkin, of the Episcopal Church, 
and of which he was an exemplary member, he asked him to sing the 
hymn, 

" ' Rock of ages cleft for me. 
Let me hide myself in thee,' 

he joining in with all the voice his strength would permit. He then 
joined in prayer with the minister. To the doctor he said : ' I am going 
fast now. I am resigned. God's will be done.' Thus died General 
Stuart." (^') 

General Lee was deeply affected when he learned of his death. " When 
the news reached him," writes General Lee's biographer, "he retired from 
those around him and remained for some time communing with his own 
heart and memory. He said, ' I can scarcely think of him without 
weeping.' "(") 



132 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

So the terrible harvest of death went on, cutting down brave and 
noble men alike in the Union and Confederate armies. Let it ever be' 
kept in mind that the sacrifice came from the attempt of a few men to 
establish a government based on slavery. 



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NOTES TO CHAPTER V. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 210. 

Adam Badeaii, " Military History of General Grant," vol. ii., p. 133. 

Gen. J. A. Early, " Memoirs of Last Year of the War," p. 33. 

Confederate Soldier to Author. 

General Grant's Despatch. 

Gen. A. L. Long, " Memoirs of Robert E. Lee," p. 336. 

Gen. J. A. Ear)}-, " Memoirs of Last Year of the War," p. 23 

General Hancock's Report. 

Author's Note-book, May, 1864. 

General Longstreefs Official Diary, quoted by Gen. F. A. Walker, "History of 

the Second Army Corps," p. 458. 
Gen. Emory Upton's Report. 
Author's Note- book. May, 1864 

Gen. U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 559. 
Author's Note-book, May, 1864. 
Gen. U. S. Grant to Halleck, May 11, 1864. 
Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 229. 
Gen. C. M. Law, Century Magazine, June, 1887, p. 289. 
G. N. Galloway, Century Magazine, June, 1887, p. 305. 
Idem. 

Idem, p 306. 

General Lewis. Grant's Report. 
Author's Notebook, iNIay, 1864. 

Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, "Personal Memoirs," vol. i., p. 205. 
Idem. 
Idem. 

J. B. Jones, " Rebel War Clerk's Diary," vol. ii., j), 205. 
Idem. 

Richmond Ecaminer, May 14, 1864. 
Gen. A. L Long, " Memoirs of Robert E Lee," p. 343. 



BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 133 



CHAPTER VI. 

BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 

T3EF0RE the Army of the Potomac began its movement from Ciil- 

peper to the Wilderness, General Grant went to Fortress Monroe, to 

give General Butler Instructions in regard to the part he was to perform 

in the great drama. General Butler was in command of the Tenth and 

Eighteenth Army Corps, commanded respectively by Gen. 

April, 1864. y^ ^. * /-t-h ' i i i i it i 

C^uincy A. GiUmore, who had been ordered to tliat pomt 
from Morris Island (see "Marching to Victory," chap, xvi.), and William 
F. Smith, who had been ordered east from Chattanooga (see "Marching 
to Victory," chap. xxi.). General Butler was to go up the James with a 
fleet of gunboats, land at City Point, cut the railroads leading south from 
Richmond, and do all the damage possible. While General Grant, with the 
Army of the Potomac, was to thunder at the front door. General Butler, 
with the Army of the James, was to take possession of the back door of 
the Confederate capital. The troops were at Yorktown and Gloucester, 
as if about to go up York River. Their presence at that point mystified 
the Confederate Government as to what Butler intended to do. 

Let us think of ourselves as being in Richmond the last week in 
April. We see General Bragg, who has been recalled from the West in 
consequence of his disastrous defeat at Chattanooga, but who had been 
appointed chief of staff and military adviser to Jefferson Davis, issuing 
orders for the President of the Confederacy. General Beauregard was in 
command of all the troops between Richmond and South Carolina, with his 
headquarters at Weldon, in J^ortli Carolina. General Pickett was in com- 
mand, under Beauregard, of the troops manning the fortifications at Drew- 
ry's Bluff, on the banks of the James, and atrPetersburg. Ever since 1862 
the Union troops have held Xewberne, North Carolina, where, in the last 
week of April, there were about six thousand, so widely scattered that Jef- 
ferson Davis believed that they could be easily captured, and had person- 
ally planned an expedition for that purpose. General Beauregard believed 
that a movement was to be made by the troops of Butler up the James, 



13J: EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

bnt in obedience to Jefferson Davis's orders, gave instruction to General 
Hoke to move against Newberne. The movement, bowevei', was sudden- 
ly abandoned when a despatch was received in Richmond that General 
Grant's army was crossing the Rapidan at Germania Ford. 

The telegraph operators were busy in Richmond. Messages were 

coming from the North and from the South. Jefferson Davis sent this to 

Beaureo;ard : " Unless Newberne can be captured by coup de 

M;iv 5, 1864. . ^, , , t ■, t , 

mai7i tlie attempt must be abandoned, and tlie troops re- 
turned with all possible despatch to unite in operations in northern Vir- 
ginia. There is not an hour to lose."(') 

General Beauregard sent this despatch to General Whitney, in com- 
mand at Wilmington : " Hurry Hagood's brigade through to Petersburg 
without delay. Use passenger trains and all others." (°) 

If we had been in the telegraph office at Petersburg, we should have 
heard this despatch from Beauregard to General Pickett : " Concentrate 
your forces towards Petersburg." 

This despatch went from Riclnnond to Weklon : " Order General Pick- 
ett not to stop Hagood's brigade: send it immediately here." 

The train bearing Hagood's troops was going nortli from Weldon, and 
, had just crossed Stony Creek, one of the streams that make up Nottaway 
River, when a body of Union cavalry came through the pine woods and 
burned the bridge. Had the train been a few minutes late, or had the 
cavah'y arrived a few minutes earlier, in all probability the history of what 
happened at Petersburg in 1864 would have been far different from what 
it is. Who were these troopers? Had we been at Suffolk on the morning 
of the 4th Ave should have seen them — two brigades under General Kautz, 
moving north-west, and then west, to cut the railroad leading from Peters- 
burg to Weldon. They burned the bridge, tore up the track, moved on 
to Rowanty River, to find the bridge there defended by a regiment of 
infantry. Not being able to destroy it, they turned north, burned one or 
two small bridges, but did so little damage that the Confederates soon had 
the cars running again. General Kautz might have destroyed the road 
all the way to Petersburg without molestation, but for some reason not 
- stated by him did not do so. 

There was much running to and fro in Richmond in the evening when 
this messnge flashed over the wires : " There are two single-tnrreted moni- 
tors, one double-turreted, three gunboats, and about forty transports in the 
fleet, coming up the James. Two gunboats have gone up the Appomattox. 
Each transport will average five hundred men. Some of the transports 
have horses on board. White and negro troops are in the expedition. 




FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 



BERMUDA HUNDEED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 137 

They are landing at City Point, and have hauled down the Confederate 
flag, and raised the Yankee flag."(^) 

It was the force under Genertil Butler which had left Yorktown and 
Gloucester twenty-four hours before. 

At that hour General Pickett had only six hundred men in Petersburg. 
He had not ni ore than one thousand men to hold that city and the railroad 
north to Port Walthall Junction. General Butler had about twenty thou- 
sand, and was getting ready to march to Petersburg on the south side of 
the Appomattox, and to push out a force to seize the railroad leading to 
Richmond on the north side. At that moment the three railroad trains 
with Ilagood's brigade came rolling into Petersburg to be welcomed by 
the citizens, who in their gratitude gave tiiem all the food they wanted. 

What narrow turning-points there are in history! Had Kautz, as 
we have seen, arrived at Stony Creek a few minutes sooner, or had the 
troops under General Butler started from Yorktown, Newport News, and 
Gloucester a little earlier, Petersburg would have been occupied by the 
Union troops in the first week in May, 1864. 

It was four o'clock in the afternoon when one of the transi^orts ran 
alongside the bank three miles below City Point, and two regiments 
leaped on shore and took possession of Fort Powhatan, erected by the 
Confederates in 1862. A division of colored soldiers of the Eio-hteenth 
Corps, under General Ilinks, landed at City Point. The other two divis- 
ions, with the Tenth Corps, pushed on to Bermuda Hundred, and landed 
on the farm of Dr. Epps. Bermuda Hundred is the point of land in- 
cluded in the bend of the James just above the Appomattox, Going 
westward along the banks of the last-named stream, three miles brings us 
to Point of Rocks, above which, in the Appomattox, are several long and 
narrow islands, fringed with willow-trees which droop their branches into 
the sluggish stream. Port Walthall is a landing-place on the north bank 
of the river, whence a railroad runs w'est two miles to its junction with 
the Petersburg and Richmond Railroad. It is only two miles from the 
junction north-east to the James, so that General Butler, by holding the 
land from Port Wallliall to the bend of the river, would be able to pro- 
tect his supplies. The monitors and gun-boats could prevent the Confed- 
erate iron-clad vessels which were lying in the stream below Riclnnond 
from coming down to make havoc of the fleet of transports. 

A mistake was made at the outset. There are times when celerity of 
movement is everything. The troops went into bivouac for the night, 
when they should have been thrown forward to seize the railroad at the 
junction, tear it up, and erect fortifications. 



138' REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

It was six o'clock in the morning when Ilecknian's brigade moved 

westward from Bermuda Hundred. At noon the troops were at Cobb's 

Hill, a knoll on the north bank of the Appomattox. No 

'• ' ■ Confederate troops opposed them. The soldiers here and 
there had caught a glimpse of a Confederate cavalryman riding across 
the fields at a safe distance. Heckman was ordered to wait till the 
otlier brigades of General Smith's corps arrived. General Gillmore, 
with the Tenth Corps, was also moving, but at a snail's pace, westward 
farther north. Neither Generals Butler, Smith, nor Gillmore, seemingly, 
had any comprehension of the ueed of a rapid movement. Every con- 
sideration demanded a, quick seizing of the railroad, tearing up the track, 
and erecting fortifications to hold it. Why such slowness never has been 
explained. Butler's movement to Bermuda Hundred had not been an- 
ticipated by the Confederates; it was such a surprise that a signal-ofiicer 
who was fishing in the James when the fleet came in sight fled as fast 
as he could run, leaving his fishing-lines and fish behind him. The Union 
troops were much obliged to him for having supplied them with fish. 
From noon till four o'clock in the afternoon Heckman's brigade rested 
at Cobb's Hill, waiting for General Smith to give tlie order for their 
advance ; and then the brigade, accompanied by Howard's Fourth United 
States Battery, started upon a reconnoissance, descending the hill, passing 
a mill, and moving on to a farm-house. Looking across a field, they 
could see a cloud of dust raised by a body of Confederates going upon 
the run to hold the railroad at the junction of the Port Walthall branch 
with the main line of railroad. Howard wheeled his battery into posi- 
tion, and sent a shot which struck the rails of a fence and tossed them 
into the air. Heckman advanced his skirmishers, and a line of Confed- 
erate skirmishers came forward at the same moment. Stealthily the men 
in blue and the men in gray crept towards each other, crouching in the 
grass and grasping their rifles. It was a remarkable scene. They were 
so near that either party could toss a stone across the space between 
them, and yet they did not fire. For fifteen minutes they glared at each 
other — not two men, but two entire lines of men — and then the Confed- 
erates slowly backed themselves towards the fence. When the Union 
men discovered the movement, they sprang to their feet, fired, and in- 
stantly dropped into the grass. Then there was a volley from the fence, 
followed by a louder volley from Heckman's main line. For a few 
minutes the contest went on, the Confederate fire slackening. Heckman 
sent an aide to General Smith, asking for reinforcements, but instead of 
supports he received an order to fall back, and so, as the sun went 



BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 



139 



down, this brigade turned about and retired towards Bermuda Hun- 
dred. 

It was Hagood's brigade — the one which passed over Stony Creek just 
before Kantz reached that stream — that had thus confronted Heckman. 
The Confederate troops came across the Appomattox on the same plat- 
form cars that brought them from I^s^orth Carolina. They could see Heck- 
man's troops before the cars reached the junction, leap from them, and 
huny down to the rail -fence. It was not the fault of General Ilepk- 
man, or any remissness on the part of his troops, that the railroad was 
not seized and held. It went sorely against the wishes of this commander 




PONTOON-BRIDGE, POINT OP ROCKS, ON THE APPOMATTOX. 

From a Sketch made June, 1S64. 

and of his troops that they were ordered back, thus allowing the Confed- 
erates to have the prestige of victory when there had been really no bat- 
tle, only the firing of a few volleys ; but back to Cobb's Hill marched 
the grumbling soldiers, who wanted to rush upon Hagood and seize the 
railroad and build intrenchments. 

Morning dawned. The two divisions of the Eighteenth Corps ad- 
vanced, but only to find a stronger force of Confederates holding the rail- 
road — Hagood's and Bushrod Johnson's brigades. It was ten 

''^ ' ' o'clock before the Union artillery opened fire. Brooks's di- 
vision swung round upon the Confederate left flank north of the junc- 
tion, reached the track of the main line, and tore it up, also cutting the 
telegraph line. In the afternoon there was a sharp engagement near the 
house of Mr. Cragie, where the railroad crossed the turnpike; but the 
Union troops went into bivouac on the railroad, the Confederates retreat- 



1-iO REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

iiior across a little stream towards Petersburo-. Broolvs's division of the 
Eighteenth Corps of the Army of the James bivouacked on the railroad, 
and destroyed the track. This occupation of the railroad by the Union 
troops created great consternation in Richmond. Church bells rang, call- 
ing out all the home troops — the citizen soldiers organized for the defence 
of the city. We have this insight of affairs at the Confederate capital 
from a clerk in the War Department : 

"There is more anxiety manifested to-day. Senator Ilnnter and Mr. 
Ould, the agent of the Exchange, have been in the office next to mine 
once or twice to drink some good whiskey kept by the disbursing clerk of 
the department : Mr. H.'s face is quite red. Six p.m. the tocsin sounded 
for the militia ; I suppose all others being in the field. It is reported 
that the attack on Drewry's Bluff, or rather on our forces posted there for 
its defence, has begun. Barton's brigade marched thither to-day. Tliere 
is now^ some excitement and trepidation among tlie shopkeepers and ex- 
tortioners, who are compelled by State law to shoulder the musket for the 
defence of the city, and tliere is some running to and fro preliminary to 
the rendezvous in front of the City Hall. The Nineteenth Militia Regi- 
ment will have the pleasure of sleeping in the open air to-night, and dream- 
ing of their past gains." (*) 

The Army of the James had not made any long marches. It had been 

transported by steamers to Bermuda Hundred, had fought no battle, had 

been restino- through the day, when it might have been in 

Mays, 1864. . ^° ^ , . ! ' . ., ^ _e i . 

motion, in contrast to this inaction, the Confederates were 
hard at work. The bridges destroyed by Kautz had been rebuilt, and 
cars loaded with troops were on their way from the soutli to Petersbui-g. 

On Monday morning Heckman's brigade began to march towards Pe- 
tersburg, while all the other troops nnder General Butler started north- 
ward towards Richmond. A mile, and Heckman was at 
' ' " Arrowfield Church, on the turnpike, where a road comes 
in from the right and another from the left. A little stream winds 
down from the west — Swift Creek — crossing the turnpike and going 
on to the Appomattox. The Confederates made it their line of de- 
fence, three Tennessee regiments being posted by the railroad bridge. 
General Heckman placed the Twentj'-seventh Massachusetts and !Ninth 
jSTew Jersey west of the turnpike to advance by the church, and his 
other two regiments east of the turnpike to secure the railroad bridge. 
The cliurch bells in Petersburg had struck the hour of noon when the 
Confederates began the battle by moving forward ; but they were quickly 
repulsed, and retreated across Swift Creek. Butler had detailed another 



BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 



141 




brigade to support Heckinan. It is quite probable that he could have 
made his way into Petersburg, or at least compelled the withdrawal of 
the Confederate troops south of the Appomattox. If General Butler 
had turned his^ attention first in that direction, in all probability he 
would liave easily taken possession of the 
city. Having done that, he could have de- 
stroyed the bridges across the Appomattox. 
A small force then could have held the line 
of the Appomattox, and left him free for a 
movement towards Richmond. Had that 
been done, it would have seriously affected 
the Confederate capital and the operations 
of the army under General Lee. 

The Army of the Jan:ies had possession 
of the railroad, and had torn up six miles 
of track between Richmond and Peters- 
burg. Having done this, General Butler 
ordered the troops to fall back towards 
Bermuda Hundred. Quite likely he thought 
that with so much track torn up, the Confed- 
erates would not be able to repair it, but in 
a few days the cars were running once more. 

General Smith and General Gillmore both proposed to General Butler a 
plan for the laying of pontoons across the Appomattox at Bermuda Hun- 
dred, to leave enough troops to hold the intrenchments, and 

May 10, 1864. , ', .,,,■,. ., -w.ti.i j 

to march with the rest during the mglit to Petersburg and 
capture that city. It would be a short march of about six miles. Had 
the plan been carried out on the evening of the 9th or 10th, the chances 
are that it would have resulted in failure, for Beauregard was in or near 
Petersburg, with nearly all his troops, till the 12th. Had it been en- 
tered upon on the evening of the 13th, in all probability it would 
have been a complete success. Butler declined to accept the plan. He 
informed them that Kautz had destroyed the railroad leading to Weldon ; 
that with the six miles gone between Petersburg and Richmond, he thought 
it would not be possible for the Confederates to repair the breaks. 

Let us see the situation from. the Confederate side. Gen. Robert Ran- 
som, in command of the troops at Drewry's Bluff, moved out to reconnoi- 
tre the Union army with Barton's and Grade's brigades, on the morning 
of the 10th, just as the pickets of the Tenth Corps were being withdrawn. 
There was a little skirmishing, but no battle. The falling back of the 



ENGAGEMENT AT AKROWFIELD 
CHURCH. 



142 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Union troops, which outnumbered the Confederates, gave encouragement 
to Ransom's men. Going down towards Petersburg, we find Beauregard's 
troops along Swift Creek, by Arrowfield Church. There were eight bri- 
gades and eight batteries. There were two brigades in Petersburg and 
more troops on the way. The damage done by Kautz at Stony Creek 
liad been repaired, and the cars were running before he had reached City 
Point. Telegrams were flying thick and fast. This from General Whit- 
ing, who had just arrived at Weldon from Wilmington: "Am here on 
my way ; coming as fast as I can." On the morning of 

May 13, 1864. i-ir.i-r-» i ■< • xrv t-v-^/t-j 

the 13th Beauregard sent this to Jeiierson Davis: "Pro- 
pose leaving to-day about noon with Colquitt's and Corse's brigades, 
which arrived yesterday. Martin's and Wise's remain here. Light bat- 
teries will follow as soon as possible after arriving." (^) So on the after- 
noon of the 13th we see the Confederate troops leaving the cars at 
Swift Creek, turning north-west, marching up the road leading to Chester- 
field Court-house, and joining Pansom at Drewry's Bluff. On the llrth 
Beauregard had his army, with the exception of Whiting's division, con- 
centrated near that point. On that evening Whiting was whirled through 
Petersburg and up to Arrowfield Church, where he was informed by a 
messenger that Beauregard was about to attack the Union army, and that 
he was to march towards the sound of the guns. Jefferson Davis had 
come down from Pichmond to look after affairs. Beauregard, on the 
morning of May 16th, had an army of twentj'-two thousand, with two 
thousand cavalry. The Confederates had acted with great energy, Butler 
with great deliberation. Through the 10th and 11th the Union com- 
mander did not move at all. On the next day he advanced slowly towards 
Drewry's Bluff. 

Let us begin with the 13th. The cavalry under Kautz had arrived, 
and pontoons had been laid across the Appomattox. Kautz crossed 
to the northern shore, and was to move west to strike the Richmond 
and Danville Railroad. The colored troops under Hinks were still at 
City Point. General Ames's division of the Tenth Corps was stationed 
near Walthall Junction to prevent any attack from the direction of 
Petersburg, while the other brigades of both corps started north towards 
Richmond. The object was not to attack the Confederates, but to cover 
the movement of Kautz. A small stream comes down from the west 
and emj3ties into the James, called Proctor's Creek, along which was a 
line of breastworks occupied by the Confederates. General Smith ex- 
amined them and reported to Butler that if held in force they could not 
be carried. General Gillmore was on the left of the Eighteenth Corps, 



BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 



145 



and marched towards tlie nortli-west. It was well on in the afternoon 
when Terry's division advanced to the attack. The artillery on both sides 
began the battle. The Confederate right was half a mile west of the 
railroad, on Woolridge Hill. Terry found it difficult to advance under 
the heavy fire which swept the open field, and was preparing for a sec- 
ond attack when the Confederates left the hill and retreated to the second 








CONSTRUCTING BREASTWORKS. 



and much stronger line of fortifications, which had been thrown up by the 
slaves, extending from James River along Kingsland Creek to the rail- 
road. The intrenchments faced south. 

Fort Darling, with heavy cannon, crowned the summit of Drewry's 
Bluff, which rises more than one hundred feet above the James. From 
that altitude the Confederates could send rifled shot and shell down upon 
the gunboats were they to approach the fort. Being so high, the gun- 
boats might fire all day and do little damage in return. It was along the 
line of Ivine-sland Creek that the strongest breastworks had been thrown 
up, and there Beauregard, with great energy, had concentrated his troops, 
10 



146 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

though on tlie afternoon of the 13th not half of his soldiers had reached 
the position, but were on the march from Cliesterfield Conrt-house. 

General Weitzel's division of Union troops was on the right of the 
turnpike, half a mile from the Confederate intrenchments, occupying 
those which had been abandoned the previous evening. 
Brooks's division was next in line, and then Turner's, of the 
Tenth Corps, with Terry on the left, on Woolridge Hill. Ileckman's bri- 
gade was on the extreme right of the line. Weitzel had constructed a line 
of log breastworks along the edge of a piece of woods, and out a short 
distance in front stretched a telegraph wire from tree to tree. General 
Smith saw that it would be easy for the Confederates to come out from 
their intrenchments between the right of the line and the James, and 
that he must have more troops ; and thi'ee regiments of Ames's division 
came up the turnpike and halted at the Half-way House, which is just 
half-way between Richmond and Petersburg, and near which Butler had 
his headquarters. When General Butler landed he outnumbered the Con- 
federates three to one, but now that he was in position to attack they were 
as strong as himself. He had divided his force. Ilinks was at City Point 
doing nothing other than to guard it with live thousand men. The gun- 
boats and a regiment would have been sufficient to hold that position. 
Three thousand had been left at Bermuda Hundred to hold the intrench- 
ments. Ames was at Walthall Junction -svith five thousand, to protect his 
rear. Kautz was on his way west to strike the Danville road. The troops 
in position along Kingsland Creek were holding a line two and a half 
miles long, with a gap of more than two miles between the right of the 
line and the James — ground over which it would be easy for the Confed- 
erates to make a flank movement, get between Butler and the river, and 
move to shut him off from Bermuda Hundred. 

That was just what Beauregard, after .looking over the situation from 
the ramparts of Fort Darling, proposed to do. He had the divisions of 
Kansom, Hoke, and Colquitt, with plenty of field artillery. Whiting 
was at Swift Creek with Wise's and Martin's brigades, four thousand six 
hundred strong, besides two thousand cavalry under General Dearing. 
In addition, there was a brigade under Hunton at Chapin's Bluff, besides 
the heavy artillery in the forts. Butler intended to attack on the after- 
noon of the 15th, but could not get the troops into position. Beauregard 
at the same time was making his plans to move out from Fort Darling 
and attack, with all possible force, the right of the Eighteenth Corps at 
daylight on the 16th. 

The Confederates marched to their positions during the night — Ran- 



BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 



14( 



som's division along the base of the hill down towards the James, Grade's 
Alabama brigade on the left of the line. This was the force which was 
to come round Butler's right flank, gain his rear, and cut him off from 
Bermuda Hundred. General Hoke was to advance and throw out a strong 
skirmish line, as if to attack Smith directly in front. When Kansom's 




BATTLE OP PREWKY S BLUFF. 



guns opened in Butlers rear, Hoke was to make a real attack. Colquitt 
was in reserve, to be ready for attack wherever he might be needed. 
Whiting, with his 4600 muskets, twenty pieces of artillery, and 2000 
cavalry, was to march towards the sound of the heaviest firing imme- 
diately after the opening of the battle. 

It was a moonlight night. Weitzel's sentinels could see that some- 
thing was soing on in the Confederate line. There were musket-shots 



148 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

between tlie pickets. The officer at tlie front did not report to Weitzel, 
as lie oiiglit to liave done. Ransom's troops at two o'clock moved east, 
towards the James. The moon went down in the west, and then a thick 
fog hung over the land, so dense that it was difficult to see 
an object ten feet distant. Ransom expected to have been 
in position by four o'clock, but it was nearly five before his skirmishers 
came upon Heckman's pickets, who in an instant were in line. They were 
veterans, and were called the " Star Brigade." General Ileckman says : 
"Shortly after dawn a dense fog enveloped us, completely concealing the 
enemy from view. Five picked brigades in column debouched from the 
enemy's M^orks, and rapidly advancing, drove in our pickets, pressing up 
on a run to our main line. Hearing their approach, my brigade swept 
instantly into line and steadily awaited their coming. When only five 
paces intervened between the Rebel bayonets and our inflexible line, a 
simultaneous scorching volley swept into the faces of the foe, smiting 
hundreds to earth, and hurling the whole column back in confusion. Five 
times encouraged and rallied by their officers, that magnificent Rebel in- 
fantry advanced to the attack, but only to be met and driven by those re- 
lentless volleys of musketry. Finding it impossible to succeed by direct 
attack, they now changed front and attempted to crush my right, held by 
the x^intli I^ew Jersey ; but here, the riglit wing having been reserved, 
they were met by a galling fire, and again for a moment faltered. But 
soon they advanced in column by brigade, and the Star Brigade being 
without artillery, and w^ithal vastly outnumbered, was, for the first time in 
its history, compelled to fall back and take a new position." (®) 

After taking a new position, General Ileckman, going through the fog 
from the Ninth New Jersey to a point wdiich he supposed to be occupied 
by the Twenty-third Massachusetts, and dimly seeing an advaucing line, 
ordered them to wheel to the right. Tlie next moment he was a prisoner. 
The advancing troops were the Confederates of Grade's brigade. 

It takes but a minute to read this, but for more than an hour the men 
of the Star Brigade held the right of the line, till, outflanked, they were 
compelled to retreat, leaving a large number upon the ground, but a 
vastly greater number of Confederates killed and wounded. 

The Confederate attack was along the right of the Union line, upon 
WeitzeVs and Brooks's divisions ; but the ITnioti troops, with the exception 
of Heckman's, were behind breastworks, and the Confederates advancing 
in the fog found themselves confronted by gleaming lines of light, and 
were cut down by the incessant volleys. Every attack was repulsed. Gen- 
eral Smith, finding that the assault was upon his right, sent word for 



BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 149 

the batteries which were at the front, near the turnpike, to withdraw, as 
they were useless in the dense fog. The messenger to one of the bat- 
teries was struck down by a bullet, and the captain of the battery was 
left so far in advance that five guns were lost. Smith sent two regiments 
which were at the Half-way House — the Ninth Maine and the One Hun- 
dred and Twelfth New York — to the right, to prevent the Confederates 
from completely turning his flank. They arrived too late to prevent the 
falling back of Heckman, but were in position to hold in check the Con- 
federates moving rapidly and in force to assault the rear. 

The battle had been going on for more than an hour on the right of 
.the Union line before it begun on the left. Hoke's Confederate division 
came upon Gillmore, between the turnpike and railroad. The Washing- 
ton Artillery, of JSTew Orleans, was on the turnpike, sending its shells 
straight down towards the Half-way House. Johnson's brigade stood 
next in line, then Corse's, with Clingman's extending west to the rail- 
road, and a short distance beyond it. 

On the Union side the troops of the Tenth Corps reached across the 
railroad. Terry's division faced north-west, while Turner's fronted north. 
The angle was at the point where the line crosses Proctor's Creek. 
Brooks's division of the Eighteenth Corps was next in line towards the 
right, on the turnpike. The Confederate onset was against Weitzel, 
Brooks, and Turner ; but every assault was repulsed. At half-past six 
o'clock the whole line was heavily engaged. The assault of the Confed- 
erates on the Union right was successful, and General Smith was obliged 
to reform his line to prevent the Confederates from gaining his rear. 
In the fog his regiments became confused, not from any lack of courage, 
but because they could not see which way to face or move. There was 
like confusion in the Confederate ranks. The two brigades which gained , 
the flank of Heckman were in disorder. Some soldiers were picking up 
Union prisoners lost in the fog, and some in turn were being gathered up 
by Union soldiers. We have already seen how General Heckman himself 
had given an order to a body of Confederates, supposing them to be his 
own troops, and the next moment finding himself a prisoner. 

Let us think of ourselves as being in the Twenty-third Massachusetts 
on this morning, with the fog so thick that we cannot see twenty paces. 
We are firing towards a dim outline of men in front of us, holding them 
at bay, when suddenly there is a rattling of musketry in our rear. 

"Face to rear! Fall back !" the order. What is the matter? Before 
we can think what has happened, there comes a volley, and men drop all 
around us. We run through brambles and bushes, each one bent on 



150 KEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

getting to the rear. Sergeant Wallace carries the national flag. He 
wraps it round the staff grasps the lance end, and trails it behind him 
as he runs. The bullets sing around him, two passing through his cloth- 
ing ; but he saves the flag. Corporal Fernald carries the regimental flag. 
He is very sure that the line of men out yonder in the fog are friends, 
and refuses to retreat. The line comes nearer. "Surrender! surren- 
der !" is the shout. The men of the Twenty-third are not there to surren- 
der. They lift their muskets and send a volley into the advancing troops. 
The next moment ten of them are reelino- earthward, with blood streaminor 
from ghastly wounds, seven killed and three wounded. Only four men 
are left out of the squad. William D. Cole has been wounded in the arm. 
His son Edwin is lying at his feet, wounded in the leg. The father has 
fired so rapidly that the rifle all but burns his hands. Once more he fires 
at the advancing Confederates, and then goes down with twelve wounds, 
lying beside his son. The flag falls, to be picked up by the Confeder- 
ates as a trophy. (') 

Captain Raymond, in the retreat, stops to helj) one of the wounded men 
of his company, Benjamin Bray, but sees that his life is swiftly ebbing. 
The Confederates are close upon him. " Surrender !" they shout. His 
answer is a shot into their faces with his revolver. Then comes a volley, 
riddling his clothes, carrying away his sword-belt ; but he is unharmed, 
and escapes in the fog. He comes, a moment later, upon three of his 
men, who are carrying an officer to the rear. Lieutenant Wheeler, aide 
to General Heckman. " You may as well leave me ; I cannot live. 
Please take my watch and diary. If you attempt to carry me you may 
endanger yourselves and the regiment." Captain ■ Raymond M'ill not 
leave him, but sees him safely to an ambulance, then comes upon another 
group, and finds that they have the lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, 
John C. Chambers, upon a stretcher, and that they have lost their way 
in the fog. He sets them right, and the officer reaches the liospital only 
to die of his wounds. (*) 

I, who am writing this story, used to sit by the side of Lieutenant- 
colonel Chambers in a newspaper office in Boston. He was of noble spirit ; 
he served in the Mexican War. Everybody loved him. Such were some 
of the scenes dimly discerned in the enveloping fog. 

The fog lifted at last, with both armies in some measure disorganized. 
Greneral Butler was moving his troops to hold the ground on his right, 
that Beauregard might not cut him off from Bermuda Hundred. At the 
same time Beauregard was rearranging his own lines, which had been 
thrown into confusion. He had brought every regiment into action. 



BERMUDA HUNDRED AND DREWRY'S BLUFF. 151 

Jolinson's brigade had lost nearly one-third of its men. Clingman and 
Corse had been obliged to fall back before the stubborn resistance of the 
troops of Gillmore. 

Private Sidney Atkinson, of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment, 
was taken prisoner in the fog. He carried a small hatchet, which was very 
useful when he wished to kindle a fire or prepare his bed for the night. 
" Well, Yank, I will take that nice little hatchet," said one of his captors. 
" I s'pose you will, Johnny." The half-dozen men who had captured him 
soon lost their way. " Look here, Johnnies, I was over this ground this 
morning, and know where we are. I'll show you the way." The Confed- 
erates went as he directed, and soon found themselves prisoners. "I guess 
I'll take that hatchet, Johnny," said Atkinson, and the Confederates began 
to comprehend that they had foolishly allowed themselves to be out- 
witted by their prisoner. (") 

The Confederate commander was greatly disappointed in not hearing 
the roar of Whiting's cannon and rolls of musketry in the rear of Butler. 
Whiting had been ordered to march towards the sound of the heaviest fir- 
ing, but though not more than five miles distant he had heard no firing. 
The Union and Confederate cannon had been thundering all the morn- 
ing ; the air had been still, but no sound of conflict had been heard at 
AValthall Junction, where Whiting had come against the pickets of Ames's 
division of Union troops. No messenger reached him from Beauregard. 
If he advanced in a direct line towards Drewry's Bluff he must fight his 
way. While waiting for the sound of battle word came that the division 
of colored troops under Hinks, at City Point, was advancing towards Pe- 
tersburg. It was a false report, but Whiting marched to Arrowfield 
Church before he learned that it was not true. There was but little mo- 
tion of the air on that morning of dense fog, and though more than three- 
score cannon were in action nothing of the battle was heard by Whiting, 
who could not be held responsible for not marching according to orders. 
Had he attempted to obey instructions he would have been held in 
check by Ames, so that Beauregard would not have derived any particu- 
lar benefit. 

Night came, and with it the withdrawal of Butler to his intrenchments 
at Bermuda Hundred, followed by Beauregard in the morning, who also 
threw up a line of works, making any further attempt by Butler in that 
direction impossible. The auspicious opening of Butler's movement had 
ended in complete failure. In a few days the cars were once more run- 
ning into Pichmond. General Kautz had gone west to the Danville 
Railroad, torn up the track in several places, burned stations and supplies, 



152 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

crossed to the south side of the Appomattox, turned east, came once more 
to the bridge on the Weldon Raih-oad across the Nottaway, which he had 
burned a f^w days before, and found that it had been rebuilt. On the 17th 
he was once more at City Point. His work of destruction was not suffi- 
ciently thorough, for in a short time all the railroads were mended and the 
cars running. In the battle of Drewry's Bluff the Union loss in killed 
and wounded was about two thousand, and the Confederate about the 
same ; but nearly fourteen hundred Union soldiers had been captured, and 

five cannon lost. . . 

On the 20th the Confederates assaulted Terry's and Ames's divisions, 
and took possession of a line of rifle-pits, but lost seven hundred men, 
with nothing in particular gained. Beauregard could do no more. Lee 
was in need of reinforcements, and all except nine thousand were sent 
north of Richmond to the North Anna, to hold Grant in check. Butler 
could make no aggressive movement, and about half of his troops went 
on steamboats down the James and up York River, to join the Army of 
the Potomac at Cold Harbor, where we shall see them. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER VI. 

( 1 ) "Military Operations of General Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 547. 

(2) Idem, p. 548. 

(3) Idem, p. 549. 

(«)" A Rebel War Clerk's Diary," vol. ii., p. 201. 

{") " Military Operations of General Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 557. 

(») General Heckman's Report. „ -r, , , t^ - tji « 

(') "History of Massachusetts Twenty-fifth Regiment," Battle of Drewry s Bluflf. 

(') Idem 

(•) "History of Company A, Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment," p. 281. 



FKOM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 153 



CHAPTER YII. 

FROM SPOTTSYLVAXIA TO COLD HARBOR. 

HOW to get at General Lee's army was still the great question with 
General Grant, for General Lee had erected formidable intrench- 
ments covering Spottsylvania. To continue to attack there was simply a 
waste of life. General Grant did not desire to push Lee back uj)on Rich- 
mond, but to meet him in the open field, and planned a movement to 
induce Lee to make an attack. It was to send the Second Corps under 
Hancock by a roundabout way south towards the North Anna River, 
hoping that the Confederates would move to attack Hancock, and then 
before they could throw up intrenchments Grant would fall upon them. 

There are four small streams which rise north-west of Spottsylvania, 
which the Indians named the Mat, the Ta, tlie Po, the Ny, Coming to- 
gether, they make the Mattapony, which runs south-east to the Chesa- 
peake. 

The next stream south towards Richmond is the ISTorth Anna. Gen- 
eral Grant intended that the Second Corps, followed by the Fifth, should 
get between Lee and that river. It was a dividing of the Union army, 
and might be attended with disaster, but General Grant calculated that 
Hancock and Warren would hold their own against any force that Lee 
might send, and he would be quick to move to their assistance. 

At eleven o'clock on the night of May 20th, the soldiers of the Second 

Corps were on the march. When the morning dawned they were at 

Guiney's Station, on the railroad leadins; from Fredericks- 
May 20, 1864. , -n- 1 1 » , ^ ^ P -I 

burg to Richmond. A number of Confederate cavalrymen 

were there who quickly informed General Lee of the movement. At sun- 
set General Hancock was at Milford, having marched twenty miles. The 
skirmishers suddenly came upon a brigade of Confederates, under General 
Kemper, who was going north to join General Lee. In the skirmish that 
followed, seventy Confederates were captured. 

The march from Spottsylvania to Cold Harbor was through a section 
never l}efore visited by Union troops. At the crossing of the Ny I found 



154 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

quarters at a farm-bouse owned by a feeble, forceless, gray-bearded, black- 
eyed man. He owned eiglity acres of land, two negroes, an old borse, and 
a rickety cart. His bouse was mean, but it was cbarmingly 

^^ '' ' located, overlooking tbe broad valley of the Mattapony, 
and surrounded by locusts and magnolias. ISTature bad done a great deal 
towards making it a paradise, but tbe owner bad been an indifferent stew- 
ard. Lving upon tbe grass beneatb tbe trees, I fell into conversation with 
tbe proprietor. 

" This is Caroline County, I believe." 

" Yes, sir, tbis is old Caroline — a county which has sold more negroes 
down South than any other in Virginia." 

" I was not aware of that ; but I remember now a negro song which 1 
used to hear. The burden of it was, 

" 'I -wish I was back iu old Caroline.' " 

" Quite likely, for the great business of the county has been nigger- 
raising, and it has been our curse. I never owned only old Peter and his 
wife. I wish I didn't own them, for they are old and I have got to sup- 
port them ; but how in the world I am to do it I don't know, for the sol- 
diers have stripped me of everything." 

" Do you mean the Union soldiers ?" 

" Yes, and ours also. First, my boys were conscripted. I kept them 
out as long as I could, but they were obliged to go. Then they took my 
horses. Then your cavalry came and took all my corn and stole my meat, 
ransacked the house, seized my flour, killed my pigs and chickens, and 
here I am, stripped of everything." 

" It is pretty hard, but your leaders would have it so." 

" I know it, sir, and we are getting our pay for it."(') 

It was frankly spoken, and was the first admission I had heard from 
Southern lips that the South was suffering retribution for the crime of 
Secession. It probably did not enter his head that tbe selling of shaves, 
the breaking up of families, the sundering of heartstrings, the cries and 
tears and prayers of fathers and mothers, the outrages, the whippings, 
seourofino's, were also crimes in the sio^ht of Heaven. Broken hearts were 
nothing to him — not that he was naturally worse than other men, but be- 
cause slavery had blunted sensibility. 

During tbe march the next day towards the North Anna, I halted at a 
farm-house. The owner had fled to Richmond in advance of the army, 
leaving his overseer, a stout, burly, red-faced, tobacco-chewing man. There 
were a scoi'e of old buildings on the premises. It had been a notable 




FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO HANOVER. 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 157 

plantation, yielding luxuriant harvests of wheat, but the proprietor had 
turned his attention -to the culture of tobacco and the breeding of neo-roes 
He sold annually a crop of human beings for the Southern market. The 
day before our arrival, hearing that the Yankees were coming, he hurried 
forty or fift}^ souls to Richmond. He intended to take all — forty or fifty 
more — but the negroes fled to the woods. The overseer did his best to' 
collect them, but in vain. The proprietor raved and stormed and became 
violent in his language and behavior, threatening terrible punishment on 
all the runaways, but the appearance of a body of Union cavalry jjut an 
end to maledictions. He had a gang of men and women chained to2:ether, 
and hurried them towards Richmond. 

The runaways came out from their hiding-places when they saw the 
Yankees, and advanced fearlessl}- with liappy countenances. The first 
pleasure of the negroes was to smile from ear to ear, the second to give 
everybody a drink of water or a piece of hoe-cake, the third to pack up 
their bundles and be in readiness to join the army. 

" Are you not afraid of us ?" I asked. 

"Afraid! Why, boss, I'se been praying for yer to come; and now 
yer is here, t'ank de Lord." 

" Are you not afraid that we shall sell you ?" 

"!N"o, boss, I isn't. The overseer said you would sell us off to Cuba, to 
work in the sugar-mill, but we didn't believe him."(^) 

Among the servants was a bright mulatto girl, who was dancing, sing- 
ing, and manifesting her joy in violent demonstration. 

" What makes you so happy ?" I asked. 

" Because you Yankees have come. I can go home now." 

"Is not this your home?" 

" No. I come from Williamsport in Maryland." 

"When did you come from there ?" 

"Last year. Master sold me. I 'spect my brother is 'long with the 
army. He ran away last year. Master was afraid that I should run away, 
and he sold me." 

General Lee saw that the movement which Grant was making would 
cut him off from Richmond, and at once began a march to get across 
the North Anna River, a rapid stream with steep, high banks. The rail- 
road from Fredericksburg to Richmond crosses it. The Virginia Central 
Railroad crosses the former road at Hanover Junction, making it a very 
important point. ILmcock's movement was towards that locality, but 
Lee, having the shortest road, was able to reach it before the troops of 
the Second Corps came to the North Anna. 



158 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



Reinforcements were coining to General Lee. General Breckinridge 
came clown the Virginia Central road in the cars with three thousand ; 
Pickett's division of live thousand, which charged at Gettys- 
burg, hastened up from the fortifications below Richmond, 



May 23, 1864. 



also Hoke's brigade of twelv^e hundred. 



General Hancock reached the river at the railroad and Chesterfield 
bridges, which span the stream, the latter on the Telegraph road — the main 
thoroughfare. The Fifth Corps, under General Warren, was farther up- 




SECOND CORPS BATTEKIES. 

From a Sketch at the Time. 



stream, at Jericho Mill, with the Ninth between, at Ox Ford. The water 
was waist-deep, but the skirmishers of the Fifth Corps waded across, and 
drove the Confederate pickets from the other bank. The bridge-builders 
were quickly at work, and in a short time the divisions of the Fifth Corps 
were filing across the stream. Cutler's on the right, Griffin's in the centre, 
and Crawford's on the left. 

The afternoon was hot, the atmosphere murky. Away in the west, dark 
clouds with golden fringes were rising, and muttering thunder rent the air. 
It was past three o'clock when General Hancock directed his batteries to 
open fire upon a fortification held by Kershaw's brigade of Confederates, 
on the north bank of the river, near Chesterfield Bridge. The earthwork 
was constructed in 1862. Why the Confederates chose to attempt hold- 
ing this one isolated work on the north side, when the rest of the army 
was upon the south bank, is not known. Certainly nothing could be 
gained by attempting to hold it. Five Union batteries wheeled into posi- 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



159 



tion and sent a storm of shot and shell into the work. The Confederates 
had two cannon, which could make but feeble reply ; but there were brave 
men in the fort. While the fire was hottest, while the missiles were 
streaming across the yellow bank of earth every second, an officer on horse- 
back rode up from the bridge and handed a paper to the officer command- 
ing the Confederates, and walked his horse leisurely back again. For 
more than an hour the artillery rained its missiles. Then there was sud- 
den silence, followed by a loud ringing cheer, as the soldiers of Egan's and 
tierce's brigades rose from the ground where they had been lying, and 
rushed upon the fortification. Puffs of blue smoke spurted from the 
embankment, but only for an instant, and then some of the Confederates 
threw down their arms and ran for the bridge. Others remained where 




**ifll|P^€ 



SOLDIERS IN RIFLE-PITS NEAR CHESTERFIELD BRIDGE, NORTH ANNA RITER. 

From a War-time Photograph. 



they were, preferring to surrender rather than be mowed down by a vol- 
ley fired into their backs. With a wild cheer the Stars and Stripes were 
planted on the fortification. The Confederates had set fire to the railroad 
bridge a mile below, and a column of smoke arose from its burning tim- 



100 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



bers. Going now up to Jericho Mill, we see the divisions of the Fiftli 
Corps moving out over the pLiin, into wooded thickets, coming into 
line, the soldiers stacking their arms, kindling fires, making coffee, and 
frying bits of ham. Suddenly there came a rattle of musketry on the 
right, where Cutler's division was in line, and then the uproar of 
cannon. 

The troops of Hill's corps were falling upon Cutler. The attack was 
so sudden and fierce that the Union troops soon came pouring out of the 




BURNING THE RAILWAY BRIDGE ACROSS THE NORTH ANNA. 



woods, running through Hoffman's brigade in the second line. It had 
been commanded by General Rice, who was killed at Spottsylvania. The 
soldiers were veterans who had been in many battles. Captain Mink, com- 
manding a battery, was in position near Colonel Hoffman, and directed his 
gunners to ram three charges of canister into the guns. Out from the 
woods came the Confederates in pursuit. They saw the battery and 
rushed to capture it, but the pieces flamed and the Confederates fell 
headlong, torn in pieces by the storm of bullets from the cannon and 
from Hoffman's line. 

The Confederates having been repulsed, the Union troops seized axes 
and shovels and began the construction of breastworks. The sun set 
with the lightning flashing and thunder rolling through the heavens. 
The battle was over, but the ground \vhere Cutler had fought was thickly 
strewn with killed and wounded, the Confederate loss being greater than 
the Union. Five hundred Confederates surrendered rather than to at- 
tempt to retire under so destructive a fire. (') 

Night shut down with the Fifth Corps south of the river, at Jericho 
Mill, six miles up-stream from the Second Corps, while Hancock was on the 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



161 




LOADING WITH CANISTER. 



north bank. Now was Lee's 

opportunity to give Grant 

a staggering blow ; the nio- 

nient when he should have 

liurled his whole force upon 

Warren and swept him into 

the river. The position of Warren was indeed criticah The tactics of 

General Grant in this movement have been much criticised. General Lee's 
hesitation to attack Warren with overwhelming force, as he 
might have done, has been also criticised by Confederate 

officers. Lee had received fifteen thousand reinforcements, and his army 

was nearly as large as it was on May 3d, when he took his stand to compel 
11 



May 24, 1864. 



162 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



Grant to attack him in the Wilderness. In the morning the troops of the 
Second Corps crossed tlie Chesterfield Bridge, and formed on the southern 
bank. Lee had stationed his lines along the railroad to protect the junction, 
and had thrown np formidable breastworks. The Union troops reached a 
portion of the railroad and destroyed it. The Sixth Corps arrived, crossed 




QUAKLES'S MILL, NORTH ANNA RIVER. 
From a Photogi-aph taken iu 1SC4. 



the river at Jericho Mill, and came into position to support Warren, reach- 
ing the Virginia Central Railroad, tearing up the track, and burning the 
ties. Burnside, with the Ninth Corps, came to the North Anna at Ox 
Ford, but could not cross. The Confederates held the south bank, and 
were so strongly posted tliat General Grant saw it would be impossible to 
dislodge them. A third ford was discovered near Quarles's Mill, between 
Ox Ford and Jericho Mill, and Burnside sent over Crittenden's division, 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



163 



which joined Crawford's. The Confederates tried to prevent tlie crossing, 
and Crittenden lost many men. Potter's division of the K^inth Corps 
went down to Chesterfield Bridge, and joined Hancock. Grant had thus 
divided his army. Lee had the advantage of position, and his troops 
were behind strong fortifications. His army was concentrated, while 
Grant's was divided. His lines extended from the river at Ox Ford in an 
acute angle like the letter Y. With a comparatively small force he could 
have held one side of the angle against either wing of Grant's, while hurl- 
ing the bulk of his troops upon the other; but lie made no attack. The 
opportunity went by never to return, for, to the close of the war, tlie 
Union army never was again divided so temptingly to the Confederate 
commander. General Grant has this to say of the position : " Lee now 




PIONEERS CONSTRUCTING A ROAD AT OX FORD. 
From a Sketch made al the Time. 



had his entire army south of the North Anna. Our lines covered his 
front Avitli the six miles sejjarating the two wings, guarded by but a single 
division. To get from one wing to the other the river would have to be 
crossed twice. Lee could reinforce any part of his line from all points of 
it in a very short time ; or could concentrate the whole of it wherever he 
might choose to assault. We were for the time practically two armies 
besieging. Lee had been and was being reinforced. Pickett, with a full 
division, had arrived from Richmond; Hoke, from Korth Carolina, had 
come with a brigade, and Breckinridge was there : in all probability not 
less than fifteen thousand men. But he did not attempt to drive us from 
the field." (^) 

The Ninth Corps, which u]) to this time had been regarded as an army 



164 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



May 25, 1864. 



by itself, was now incorporated into the annv of the Potomac, General 
Burnside voluntarily putting himself under his junior officer, General 
Meade. The Sixth Corps moved towards the Confederate 
lines, which were found to be so strong that General Grant 
determined not to sacrifice his men by charging them. Through the day 
the skirmishers and sharp-shooters were engaged, but General Lee, with 
all the advantage of position in his favor, did not want to sacrifice his 
men by advancing upon the breastworks thrown up by the Union troops. 




EARTHWORK TAKEN BY THE SECOND CORPS. 

From a Sketch made iu 1S64. 



May 26, 1864. 



General Grant, having decided to make another movement, directed 
General Wilson's division of cavalry to make a demonstration upon Lee's 
left flank. We see the cavalry turning westward, crossing 
the North Anna above Jericho Mill, turning south, reaching 
the Virginia Central road, and destroying another section of the track. 
During the day General Grant sent this despatch to General Halleck in 
Washington : 

" To make a direct attack from either wino^ would cause a slauirhter of 
our men that even success would not justify. To turn the enemy by his 
right between the two Annas, is impossible on account of the swamp upon 
which his right rests. To turn him by the left leaves Little River, New 
Found River, and South Anna River, all streams presenting considerable 
obstacles, to be crossed. I have determined, therefore, to turn the enemy's 
right by crossing at or near Hanover Town. This crosses all three streams 
at once, and leaves us still where we can draw supplies. . . . Lee's army is 
really whipped. The prisoners we now take show it, and the action of his 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



165 



army shows it immistalcabl v. A battle with them outside of intrench- 
ments cannot be had. Our men feel that thej have gained the morale 
over the enemy, and attack him with confidence." (") 

Up to this time General Grant had been receiving his supplies from 
Frederichsburg, but he must open a new base and receive them from 
White House, at the head of York River, whence McClellan had re- 
ceived his in 1SG2. Orders were sent to Washington and preparations 
made accordingly. 

General Sheridan arrived with the cavalry from James River in the 
afternoon. The North and South Anna rivers, together with Little River, 
after uniting, form the Pamunkey, a wide, deep, winding stream flowing 
south-east to York River. When the sun disappeared at night, two divis- 




JEKICHO MILL AND PONTOON-BRIDGE, NORTH ANNA RIVER. 
From a Photograph taken at the Time. 



n* 



166 



KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 




MAP OF THE KORTU ANNA. 



ions of cavalry — Gregg's and Torbert's — moved south to Littlepage's 
Bridge, in the direction of Hanover, followed by Russell's division of the 
Sixth Corps infantry. A small force of cavalry was left at Littlepage's 
Bridge to make a feint of crossing at that point, while Sheridan, with the 
main body, followed by the infantry, pushed on through the niglit, making 
a march of nearly twenty miles to Hanover Ferry, crossing the Pamunkey 
to Hanover Town, encountering a brigade of Confederate cavalry, wdiich 
was quickly driven, the Union troops capturing forty prisoners. Tiirough 
the day the main body of the army was moving south-east, crossing the 
Pamunkey and turning west. General Grant could not learn from his 
scouts what movement General Lee was making, and directed Sheridan to 
move towards Mechanicsville. He started with Gregg from Hawes's store, 
four miles from Hanover Town, which is only seventeen miles from Rich- 
mond, but soon found a large force of Confederate cavalry ready to oppose 
his advance — Hampton's and Fitz-Hugh Lee's divisions, and Butler's bri- 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 1G7 

gade of South Carolina eavaliy, wliidi had just arrived, armed with rifles of 

long range. Fitz-IIugh Lee was on the right and Hampton on the left. 

oo To^. General Gregg quickl}'- dismounted his men. The Confed- 

Miiv 28, 1864. "" , 

erates were behmd breastworks which thej had hastily con- 
structed, and the battle began. Sheridan sent Custer's brigade to Gregg. 
There were three Union brigades against five Confederate. Through the 
afternoon the battle went on. The sun went down, but the carbines and 
rifles were still flashing. The evening twilight was disappearing, when 
the Union troops made a vigorous assault along the entire line and com- 
pelled the Confederates to give way, leaving the killed and a very large 
portion of the wounded behind them. It was a hard-fought battle, in 
which there was great loss on both sides ; but by winning it the roads 
were saved for the advance of the Union army towards Totopotomoy 
Kiver, a little stream with wooded, marshy banks, flowing south-east 
through Hanover County. Early on the morning of the 2Sth the army 
began to cross the Pamunkey on the pontoons, and by noon all except the 
Ninth Corps were moving w^est. Burnside was left to guard the trains. 
From Hawes's store three roads lead towards Richmond. The right-hand 
one takes us past Polly Huntley's ■ corner towards Atlee's Station, on the 
Virginia Central Railroad, and crosses the Chickahominy at Meadow 
Bridge. The middle one leads past Bethesda Church, and is known as 
the Old Church road, leading to Mechanicsville Bridge. The third runs 
south and then west through Old and ISTew Cold Harbor. As the troops 
crossed the Pamunkey, the Sixth Corps moved along the right-hand road, 
forming the right wing; the Second Corps followed, forming the centre, 
with the Fifth on the left. General Sheridan was directed to move 
with the cavahy in the direction of Old Cold Harbor, to protect the 
road to White House. It was necessary to do this, as it was the high- 
way over which the supplies of food and ammunition would reach the 
army. 

At last General Grant had reached ground with which Meade, Han- 
cock, "Warren, and other subordinate commanders were acquainted, al- 
though he himself had never seen it. The army was upon ground where 
it had fought under McClellan, and the map made by the Engineer 
Corps in 1862 could now be used. The two armies were so near each 
other that any movement made by either was quickly detected and a cor- 
responding change of position was made by the other. The seizure of 
the roads at Hawes's store enabled Grant to move in a direct line towards 
Cold Harbor. But he was looking beyond that point towards James 
River. He had ah^eady sent this despatch to General Hallett : " Send all 



168 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

the pontoon-bridging yon can to City Point, to have ready in ease it is 
wanted." Officers of tlie Engineer Corps were at Fortress Monroe pre- 
paring the boats. Steamboats came to that point with material for a 
bridge twelve hnndred feet in length. 

The negroes came from all the surrounding plantations — old men with 
venerable beards, horny hands, crippled with hard work and harder usage ; 
aged women, toothless, almost blind, steadying their steps with sticks ; lit- 
tle negro boys, driving a team of skeleton steers, mere bones and tendons 
covered with hide, or wall-eyed horses, spavined, foundered, and lame, at- 
tached to rickety carts and wagons piled with beds, tables, chairs, pots 
and kettles, hens, turkeys, ducks ; w^omen came with infants in their arms, 
and a sable cloud of children trotting by their side. 

"Where are you going?" I said to a short, thick-set, gray-bearded 
old man, shuffling along the road, his toes bulging from his' old boots, 
and a tattered straw hat on his head, his gray hair protruding from the 
crown. 

" I do'no, boss, where I'se going, but I reckon I'll go where the army 
goes." 

" And leave your old home, your old master, and the place where you 
have lived all your days ?" 

" Yes, boss ; massa's done gone. He went to Richmond. Reckon he 
went mighty sudden, boss, when he heard you w\^s coming. Thought I'd 
like to go 'long with you." 

His face streamed with perspiration. He had been sorely afflicted 
with the rheumatism, and it was with difficulty that he kept up with the 
column ; but it was not a hard matter to read the emotions of his heart. 
He was marching towards freedom. Suddenly a light had shined upon 
him. Hope had quickened in his soul. He had a vague idea of what was 
before him. He had broken loose from all which he had been accustomed 
to call his own — his cabin, a mud-chinked structure, with the ground for 
a floor, his garden-patch — to go out, in his old age, wholly unprovided for, 
yet trusting in God that there would be food and raiment on the other 
side of Jordan, 

It was Sunday — bright, clear, calm, and delightful. There was a crowd 
of several hundred colored people at a deserted farm-house. 

"Will it 'sturb you if we have a little singing? You see, boss, we 
feel so happy to-day that we would like to praise the Lord." 

It was the request of a middle-aged w'oman. 

" Not in the least. I should like to hear you." 

In a few moments a crowd had assembled in one of the rooms. A 



FEOM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 171 

Stout young man, black, bright-eyed, tliick-wooled, took tlie centre of the 
room. The women and girls, dressed in their finest clothes, which they 
had put on to make their exodus from bondage in the best possible man- 
ner, stood in circles round him. The young man began to dance. He 
jumped up, clapped his hands, slapped his thighs, whirled round, stamped 
upon the floor. 

"Sisters, less bless the Lord. Sisters, jine in the chorus," he said, and 
led olf with a kind of recitative, improvised as the excitement gave him 
utterance. From my note-book I select a few lines : 

KECITATIVE. 

"We are going to the other side of Jordan." 

CHORtrs. 

" So glad ! so glad ! 
Bless the Lord for freedom, 

So glad ! so glad ! 
We are going on our way, 

So glad ! so glad ! 
To the other side of Jordan, 

So glad ! so glad ! 
Sisters, won't you follow ? 

So glad ! so glad ' 
Brothers, won't you follow ?"('') 

And so it went on for a half- hour, without cessation, all dancing, 
clapping tiieir hands, tossing their heads. It was the ecstasy of action. 
It was a joy not to be uttered, but demonstrated. The old house partook 
of their rejoicing. It rang with their jubilant shouts, and shook in all 
its joints. 

I stood an interested sjjectator. One woman, well dressed, intelligent, 
refined in her deportment, modest in her manner, using excellent language, 
said : " It is one way in which we worship, sir. It is our first day of freedom." 

The first day of freedom ! Behind her were years of suffering, hard- 
ship, unrequited toil, heartaches, darkness, no hope of recompense or of 
light in this life, but a changeless future. Death, aforetime, was their 
only deliverer. For them there was hope only in the grave. But' sud- 
denly hope had advanced from eternity into time. They need not wait 
for death ; in life they could be free. Is it a wonder that they exhibited 
extravagant joy ? 

Apart from the dancers was a woman with light hair, hazel eyes, and 
fair complexion. She sat upon the broad steps of the piazza, and looked 
out upon the fields, or rather into the air, unmindful of the crowd, the 



172 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

dance, or the slionting. Iler features were so nearly of the Anglo-Saxon 
type that it required a second look to assure one that there was African 
blood in her veins. She alone of all the crowd was sad in spirit. She 
evidently had no heart to join in the general jubilee. 

" Where did you come from ?" I asked. 

" From Caroline County." 

Almost every one else would have said, " From Old Caroline." There 
was no trace of the negro dialect, more than one would hear froni all 
classes in the South, for slavery had left its taint upon the language ; 
it spared nothing, but was remorseless in its corrupting influences. 

" You do not join in the song and dance," I said. 

" ]S"o, sir." 

Most of them would have said "master" or "boss." 

" I should think you would want to dance on your first night of free- 
dom, if ever." 

" I don't dance, sir, in that way." 

" Was your master kind to you ?" 

" Yes, sir ; but he sold my husband and children down South." 

The secret of her sadness was out. 

" Where are you going ? or where do you expect to go ?" 

"I don't know, sir, and I don't care where I go."(") 

The conversation ran on for some minutes. She manifested no ani- 
mation, and did not once raise her eyes, but kept them fixed on vacancy. 
Husband and children sold, gone forever — there was nothing in life to 
charm her. Even the prospect of freedom, with its undefined joys and 
pleasures, its soul-stirring expectations, raising the hopes of those around 
her, moved her not. 

Life was a blank. She had lived in her master's famil}^, and was intel- 
ligent. She was the daughter of her master. She was high-toned in her 
feelings. The dancing and shouting of those around her were distasteful. 
It was to her more barbaric than Christian. She was alone among them, 
and felt her degradation. Freedom could not give her a birthright among 
the free. The daughter of her master! It was gall and wormwood; and 
he, her father, had sold her husband and his grandchildren I 

I had read of such things. But one needed to come in contact with 
slavery to feel how utterly loathsome and hateful it was. There was the 
broken-hearted victim, so bruised that not freedom itself, neither the 
ecstasy of those around her, could awaken an emotion of joy. Hour after 
hour the festivities went on, but she sat the while upon the step, looking 
down the desolate years gone by, or into a dreamless, hopeless future. 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 173 

It was late at night before the dancers ceased, and tlien they stopped, 
not from a surfeit of joj, but because the time had come for silence in the 
camp. It was their first Sabbath of freedom, and like the great king of 
Israel, upon the recovery of the ark of God, they danced before the Lord 
with all their might. 

We had a hard, dusty ride from the encampment at Mongohick to the 
Pamunkey. It was glorious, however, in the early morning to sweep 
along the winding forest-road, with the headquarter's flag in advance. 
Wherever its silken folds were unfurled, there the two commanders might 
be found — General Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, and 
General Grant, the commander of all the forces of the Union in the field. 
We passed the long line of troops, crossed the Pamunkey upon a pontoon- 
bridge, rode a mile or two across the verdant intervale, and halted beneath 
the oaks, magnolias, and button-woods of an old Yirginia mansion. The 
edifice was reared a century ago. It M'as of wood, stately and substantial. 
How luxurious the surrounding shade ; the smooth lawn, the rolled path- 
ways bordered by box, with moss-roses, honeysuckle, and jasmines scent- 
ing the air, and the daisies dotting the greensward ! The sweep of open 
land — viewing it from the wide portico ; the long reach of cultivated 
grounds ; acres of wheat rolling in the breeze, like waves of the ocean ; 
meadow-lands, smooth and fair ; distant groves and woodlands — how mag- 
nificent ! It was an old estate, inherited by successive generations — by 
those whose pride it had been to keep the paternal acres in the family 
name. But the sons had all gone. A daughter was the last heir. She 
gave her hand and heart and the old homestead — sheep, horses, a great 
stock of cattle, and a hundred negroes or more — to her husband. The 
family name became extinct, and the homestead of seven or eight genera- 
tions passed into the hands of one bearing another name. 

When McClellan was on the Peninsula the shadow of the war-cloud 
swept past the place. Some of the negroes ran away, but at that time 
they were not tolerated in camp. The campaign of 1862 left the estate 
unharmed. Sheridan's cavalry, followed by the Sixth Corps, in its march 
•from the North Anna, had suddenly and unexpectedly disturbed the 
security of the old plantation. There was a rattling fire from carbines, 
a fierce fight, men wounded and dead, broken fences, trodden fields of 
wheat and clover; ransacked stables, corn-bins, meat-houses, and a swift 
disappearing of live-stock of every description. 

But to go back a little. The proprietor of this estate ardently espoused 
Secession. His wife was as earnest as he. They loved the institutions 
and principles of the South. They sold their surplus negroes in the 



174 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Richmond market, parted husbands and wives, tore children from the 
arms of tlieir mothers, and separated tliem forever. They lived on un- 
requited labor, and grew rich through the breeding of human Hesh for 
the market. 

When the war began, the owner of this magnificent estate enlisted 
in the ariny and was made a colonel of cavaliy. He furnished supplies 
and kept open house for his comrades in arms; but he fell in an en- 
gagement on the Rappahannock, in October, 1863, leaving a wife and 
three young children. The advance of the army, its sudden appearance on 
the Pamunkey, left the widow no time to remove her personal estate, or to 
send her negroes to Richmond for safe keeping. Fitz-IIugh Lee disputed 
Sheridan's advance. The fighting began on this estate. Charges by squad- 
rons and regiments were made through the cornfields. Horses, cattle, 
hogs, sheep, were seized by the cavalrymen. The garden, filled with young- 
vegetables, was spoiled. In an hour there was complete desolation. The 
hundred negroes — cook, steward, chamber-maid, house and field hands, old 
and young — all left their work and followed the army. 

Passing by one of the negro cabins on the estate, I saw a middle-aged 
colored woman packing a bundle. 

"Are you going to move?" I asked. 

" Yes ; I am going to follow -the army." 

" What for ? Aviiere will you go ?" 

"I want to go to Washington, to find my husband. He ran away a 
while ago, and is at work in that city." 

"Do you think it right, auntie, to leave your mistress, Avho has taken 
care of you so long ?" 

She had been busy with her bundle, but stopped now and stood erect 
before me, her hands on her hips. Her black eyes flashed. 

"Taken care of me! What did she ever do for me? Haven't I been 
her cook for more than thirty years? Haven't I cooked every meal she 
ever ate in that house? What has she done for me in return? She has 
sold my children down South, one after another. She has whipped me 
when I cried for them. She has treated me like a hog, sir! Yes, sir, like' 
a hog!" 

She resumed her work, of preparation for leaving. That night she and 
her remaining children joined the thousands of colored people who had 
already taken sudden leave of their masters. 

Returning to the mansion to see the wounded, I met the owner of the 
place in the hall. She evidently did not fully realize the great change 
which had taken place in her affairs, and the change was not complete at 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 177 

that moment. The colored steward was there, hat in hand ; obsequious, 
bowing politely, and obeying all commands. A half-hour before I had 
seen him in the cook's cabin, making arrangements for leaving the prem- 
ises, and a half-hour later he was on his way towards freedom. 

" I wish I had gone to Richmond," said the lady. " This is terrible, 
terrible ! They have taken all my provisions, all my horses and cattle. 
My servants are going. What shall 1 do?" She sank upon the sofa, and 
for a moment gave way to her feelings. 

" You are better off here than you would be there, with the city full of 
wounded, and scant supplies in the market," I remarked. 

"You are right, sir. What could I do with my three little children 
there? Yet how I am to live here I don't know. When will this terri- 
ble war come to an end ?"(') 

I have introduced this scene because it was real, and because it was but 
one of many. There were hundreds of Southern homes where the change 
had been equally great. Secession was not what they who started it 
thought it would be. 

General Grant's headquarters were near a church. The day was warm, 

and the soldiers brought the settees from the building and placed them 

„ , „ , under the trees. A messene-er arrived from Washington 

May 29, 1864. *= » 

With letters and newspapers. The army, wearied with fight- 
ing and marching, was slowly advancing towards Totopotomoy Creek — 
the Sixth Corps to Hanover Court-house on the right, the Second Corps 
in the centre, the Fifth Corps on the left on the Shady Grove Church 
road, the Ninth in reserve at Hawes's store, the cavalry moving south 
towards Cold Harbor. There was no great battle during the day, only 
skirmishing. 

The morning opened with the Second Corps advancing to the Toto- 
potomoy. The soldiers made their way through the thickets bordering 
its banks, to find the Confederates strongly intrenched upon 
the southern bank. The Fifth Corps advanced past Polly 
Huntley's corner, and was attacked by the Confederates under General 
Early so vigorously that General Grant ordered the Second Corps to attack 
in its front. The Union troops drove the Confederates from the line of 
rifle-pits which they had constructed, while the Fifth Corps repulsed Early 
and advanced nearly a mile. General Grant saw that General Lee had 
chosen a very strong position, and resolved to move again by his left flank. 
The Government of the United States, from the beginning of the war, 
maintained its faith with the soldiers. Whenever the term of service 
of a regiment expired, no matter what the exigency, it was permitted to 
12 



ITS REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

return liome. No individual soldier was forced to serve beyond the time 
for wliicli he enlisted. Not so with tlie Confederate Government, which 
violated its plighted faith, which swept its drag-net over the whole com- 
munity, and forced men into service from which there was no discharge. 
The terms of service of several regiments were expiring when the army 
reached Cold Harbor, and they took their departure, marching to White 
House, there taking steamers to Fortress Monroe. The losses in battle 
and the departure of troops was rapidly depleting the army, and as the 
Army of the James at Bermuda Hundred could do nothing. General 
Grant ordered General Butler to send him a portion of his troops. So it 
came about that General Brooks's and General Martindale's divisions of the 
Eighteenth Corps, and General Devens's and General Ames's divisions of 
the Tenth Corps, embarked at Bermuda Hundred, descended the James, 
and ascended York River to White House. They were under the command 
of Gen. William F. Smith. General Ames's division remained at White 
House; the others went a long distance out of their way, through the 
heedlessness of a staff-officer in writing an order. While marching they 
could hear the booming of cannon far away — Sheridan's guns at Cold 
Harbor. General Grant had directed General Sheridan to protect the left 
flank. As the cavalry skirmishers approached a little creek — the Mata- 
dequin — they encountered the Confederate cavalry under General Butler, 
and a fierce battle began. The Confederates had the advantage of being 
behind breastworks in a strong position. General Sheridan directed the 
men to dismount, and then, picking their way through a thicket, they at- 
tacked as infantry. The fighting was mainly between General Torbert's 
division of Union cavalry and Butler's brigade of Confederates from South 
Carolina. The Union troops turned Butlers flank, and compelled him to 
retreat, with a loss of a large number of men, who were taken prisoners. 
Fifteen miles from Hanover soutliward is the little hamlet of Old 
Cold Harbor, on the road from Richmond to White House, at the 
iunction of several roads. Before the war, travellers used 

May 31, 1864. "^ , . , ^^ ■, ^ ^ ^ 

to water their horses at a well where tJie roads meet, and 
while the horses were drinking, the teamsters rested themselves beneath 
the piazza of the tavern, which still stands there. General Torbert and 
General Custer, after they had compelled the Confederates to retreat, fol- 
lowed them towards Cold Harbor. The two commanders saw that it was 
an important point, and so informed General Sheridan, who agreed with 
them, and Merritt's brigade, followed by Custer's, moved on to occupy it. 
General Devin's brigade was detached, and moved along a road to the 
left.(') 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 181 

The cavalry soon found themselves confronted by Fitz-Hugh Lee's 
division and Clingman's brigade of infantry, which had been brought up 
from below Richmond. The Confederates were hard at work with axes 
felling trees, and with shovels throwing up intrenchments. Once more 
the .battle began, and the Confederates were compelled to leave Cold 
Harbor in the possession of the Union troops. Sheridan was nine miles 
from any infantry support. A courier galloped up the road and informed 
General Meade of what had been accomplished, who ordered the Sixth 
Corps to make a forced march to Cold Harbor. " Hold the place at all 
hazards," was the order sent to Sheridan, So, through the night the 
Union cavalry, instead of sleeping after the battle, built breastworks. 
Boxes of ammunition were distributed, for the pickets could hear the 
Confederate troops, only a short distance from them, marching into posi- 
tion, to be ready for an assault at daylight. 

It was just after daylight when the Confederates of Kershaw's division 

advanced upon Sheridan, who told his men to wait till they were close 

up to the intrenchments before firina:. The artillery loaded 

June 1, 1864. . . . ^ . ,, r i . 

With canister, and the volleys from the repeating-carbines 
were so destructive that the Confederates fled, leaving many of their num- 
ber killed or wounded upon the Held. Later in the morning they ad- 
vanced once more, only to be repulsed with great loss. Among the killed 
was Col. Lawrence M. Keith, who before the war had been a member 
of Congress, and who was one of the most active in bringing about the 
secession of South Carolina. ("Drum-beat of the Nation," p. 29.) 

General Lee discovered that the Union troops were withdrawing from 
their intrenchments along the Totopotomoy, that all had gone except the 
Ninth Corps, and he determined to strike a blow. General Rodes's divis- 
ion of Ewell's corps, now commanded by General Early, came suddenly 
out of the Confederate intrenchments on the road to Shady Grove Church 
and captured several of the Union pickets. It was mid-afternoon, and a 
battle began which became more furious as Gordon's and Heth's divis- 
ions, following Eodes's, came on. The Ninth Corps was just moving away, 
but quickly came into position. The Confederates, under Rodes, pressed 
on, and captured some of the Union skirmishers. Griffin's division of 
the Fifth Corps was at Bethesda Church. Cutler's and Crawford's di- 
visions were south of it. General Griffin deployed his line, Ayres's 
brigade on the left, Bartlett's in the centre, and Sweitzer's on the right. 
The artillery opened a heavy fire, quickly followed l)y volleys of musketry. 
Heth's division fell upon Crittenden's of the Ninth Corps, but Potter's 
and Wilcox's divisions came to Crittenden's assistance. From mid-after- 



182 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

noon till sunset the battle raged, ending in the repulse of the Confeder- 
ates, and the death of an able officer, General Dole. While the mus- 
kets were flashing and the cannon flaming near Bethesda Church, another 
temj)est was beginning near the Old Tavern, at Cold Harbor. Dur- 
ing the morning the Sixth Corps, under General Wright, was coming 
into position, also the troops from Bermuda Hundred, under General 
Smith, who had been directed " to hold the road from Cold Harbor to 
Bethesda Church, and co-operate with the Sixth Corps in an attack." ('") 
The troops under General Smith had marched sev^enteen miles out of their 
way. They were weary, hungry, covered with dust, when they came into 
position at six o'clock in the afternoon. 

Through the day the Confederate troops, under Longstreet and Hill, 
had been likewise marching, and were in position, constructing earth- 
works, felling trees, making abatis, and planting sharpened stakes in the 
ground. The pickets were hard at work digging rifle -jDits and felling 
trees, in a narrow. strip of wood half a mile from the Union troops, 
who could see the axes and shovels gleaming in the descending sun. A 
quarter of a mile farther west was the main line of works, a bank of 
earth, growing wider and higher every moment, with embrasures for can- 
non, covering every part of the smooth and level fleld. General Hoke's 
division was nearest the swamp of the ^Chickahominy. Then came Ker- 
shaw's, Pickett's, and Field's divisions. Going along the line of Union 
troops, we see Getty's division, commanded by Neill, nearest the Chicka- 
honiiny, then Russell's, Rickett's, Devens's, Brooks's, and Martindale's 
divisions — the line extending from the banks of the river to the farm of 
Mr. Woody. 

First came the cannonade — the artillery of both armies, hurling shot 
and shell across the fields fresh and green with summer verdure. Then 
the Union skirmishers advanced, followed by the firmly stepping lines. 
The weak point in a battle-line is where the divisions or brigades unite, 
where the authority of one subordinate connnander ceases and another 
begins. Rickett's division struck the Confederate line where Kershaw's 
and Hoke's divisions joined. (") The blow fell upon Clinginan's brigade 
of North Carolinians, which gave way, and Rickett's men instantly wedged 
themselves between Wofford's and Bryan's brigades, capturing over five 
hundred prisoners. But Hunter's and Gregg's brigades came upon the 
run, and a new Confederate line was formed. Upton's brigade of Rus- 
sell's division charged with Rickett's. The Sixth Corps in this attack lost 
nearly twelve hundred killed or wounded. One regiment — the Second Con- 
necticut — lost in killed, \vounded, and missing, three hundred and eighty-six. 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



1S3 



General Devens's, Martindale's, and Brooks's divisions of Smitli's corps 
crossed a field under a heavy fire, captured the first line of intrenchments 
and two hundred and fiftj prisoners, advanced almost to the main line of 
works, but were obliged to fall back, losing in all one thousand men. 
A soldier in General Burnham's brigade gives this account : 

" On the way we file around the burning ruins of a building, said to 
be Beulali Church, near Mr. Woody's house. We enter thick brush, and 
move by the right flank into a shoal ravine, halt, and form close columns 
by divisions. Soon comes the order, given direct by an aide of General 
Burnham's, ' Load !' While loading our muskets the roll is called, the 




ATTACK OF THE EIGHTEENTH CORPS AT COLD HARBOR. 



men answering firmly, ' Here ! here ! here !' in many cases their last roll- 
call on earth. . . , We have been within range of the enemy's shot and 
shell for a long time, and hundreds of bullets whistle and whack among 
the trees, while shells burst over our heads, and the jjieces come down 
among us, or else rip and tear througli the trees. One large pine-tree is 
cut clean off, twenty or thirty feet above the ground, and the great branch- 
ing top crashes down, and comes near killing General Burnham. . . . The 
artillery fire increases, the skirmishing rattles louder and louder, the smoke 
rolls towards us heavier and heavier in volume until the sun is obscured. 
At six o'clock we are ordered to charge. In a minute we spring out of 



184 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

the pines into the clearer light of open ground, and plunge headlong into 
the scene of carnage auiid the deafening roar of musketry and artillerj'. 
Our part of the work is done in less than five minutes. Reliable persons 
have said in less than three minutes ; but in this little time we lose sixty- 
seven men killed or wounded. We leave our grove of pines at the crest 
of the bluff, dart on the run three hundred yards across ah open field to a 
little ridge. The enemy withdraws from his rifie-pits."(''") 

The Confederates, astonished at the suddenness and success of the 
attack, made their main line of works a sheet of flame. The sun set 
through dun-colored clouds, illumined by the flashing of cannon and mus- 
kets. During the night several attempts were made by the Confederates 
to regain the captured works, but all such efforts were futile. ('^) 

The loss was severe in killed and wounded ; but it was a victory so 
signal that a congratulatory order was issued by General Meade to the 
Sixth Corps. 

Lying beneath the ever-moaning pines, with the starlit heavens for a 
tent, I listened to the sounds of the battle — steady, monotonous, like the 
surf on the beach. An hour's sleep, and still it was rolling in. But all 
things must have an end. Near midnight it died away, and there was 
only the chirping of the cricket, the unvarying note of the whippoorwill, 
and the wind swaying the stately trees around me. Peaceful all around ; 
but ah ! beyond those forest belts were the suffering heroes, parched with 
thirst, fevered with the fight, bleeding for their country. How shall we 
thank them? How shall w^e reward them? What estimate shall we place 
upon their work ? 

In the advance of Sweitzer's brigade of the Fifth Corps, Sergeant 
J. H. Abbott, of the Twenty-second Massachusetts, on the skirmish line, 
came suddenly upon five Confederate soldiers lying behind a log. " Sur- 
render !" he shouted, and to his amazement and their own as well, they 
dropped their guns, while he sprang behind them and marched them into 
the lines. (") 

During the night. General Hancock, with the Second Corps, was 
moving in rear of the Sixth Corps, and coming into position between 
the Sixth and the Chickahominy, becoming the left wing 
"' of the army. General Grant expected to be ready to attack 

once more early in the morning, but the night was very dark, and the sun 
was high in the eastern sky when the troops of the Second Corps reached 
the position assigned them. They were weary and in no condition to 
rush into battle, but a battle was going on through the day — a constant 
pattering of musketry, like steady rain, with the thunder of artillery. 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



185 



Had we been in the Confederate camp we should have seen men at 
work with shovels and axes making a massive line of intrenchments, ex- 
tending all the way from the banks of the Chickahominy to the Shady 
Grove road. We should have seen the chief of artillery planting cannon 
to cover the fields with front and enfilading fires. A Confederate writer 
says: "A portion of the line occupied the edge of a swamp several hun- 
dred yards in length and breadth, enclosed by a semicircular ridge covered 
with beech-wood. On the previous night, the troops assigned to this part 
of the line, finding the ground wet and miry, withdrew to the encircling 
ridge, leaving the breastworks to be held by their picket lines." ('^) 




SECOND CORPS AT COLD HAKBOR. 

From a Sketch made at the time. 



I rode along the lines from Bethesda Church to the old tavern at Cold 
Harbor. Russell's division of the Sixth Corps was lying behind the 
breastworks in front of the house. Shells came sin2:ino; throuo;h the air 
and crashing through the trees. The Union artillery was replying to the 
Confederate. 

Passing to the right, I saw the men from Bermuda Hundred sheltering 

themselves behind their breastworks. General Martindale's headquarters 

were by Mr. Woody's house. The soldiers knew that General Grant was 

contemplating another assault, and they knew that many lives would be 
12—2 



186 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

sacrificed, and some of them were writing last letters to loved ones far 
away. 

To judge fairly of military movements, we must put ourselves in the 
place of commanding generals and see things as they see them at the time. 
From the Wilderness to Cold Harbor General Grant had endeavored to 
encounter the Confederate army in an open field, but everywhere he had 
found it intrenched. What now should he do? Should he order an as- 
sault ? To do so would result in the killing and wounding of many men ; 
but if he could break the Confederate line he might be able to strike a 
damaging blow in the falling back of Lee across the Chickahominy. It 
seemed best to attempt it. 

"An assault was ordered," writes General Grant, "to be made mainly 
by tlie corps of Hancock, Wright, and Smith; but Warren and Burnside 
were to support it by threatening Lee's left, and to attack with great ear- 
nestness if he should either reinforce more threatened points by withdraw- 
ing from that quarter, or if a favorable opportunity should present itself. 
The corps commanders were to select the points in their respective fronts 
where they would make the assaults. The movement was to commence at 
half-past four in the morning." ('") 

The Massachusetts Tenth Battery, commanded by Captain Sleeper, 
was attached to the Second Corps. When the sun went down. General 
Gibbon directed the battery to take a position in the works 
' ^ " captured from the Confederates, with his first cannon on the 
right near a tree. Through the night the battery-men were at work with 
their shovels digging trenches, in which they sank their limber-chests be- 
low the level of the ground, and heaping up a great bank of earth. The 
soldiers cut small pines and oaks and set them outside the embankment, 
to screen themselves from the Confederate sharp-shooters. Half-past four 
— the hour had come. The soldiers of the Second, Sixth, and Eighteenth 
corps were ready and waiting. One of General Gibbon's staff-officers rode 
to Captain Sleeper with this order, " Fire a single gun as a signal," and 
the cannon by the tree broke the stillness of the morning. (") 

Over the breastworks leaped the Union troops. Instantly the Confed- 
erate lines burst into flame — a hundred cannon, twenty thousand muskets. 
Twenty minutes, and the assault known in history as the battle of Cold 
Harbor was over — lost to General Grant, with from eight to ten thousand 
men numbered among the killed and wounded. General Grant says of 
this assault : 

" Hancock sent forward Barlow and Gibbon at the appointed hour, 
with Birney in reserve. Barlow pushed forward with great vigor, under 




COLD HARBOR. 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



189 



a heavy fire of both artillery and musketry, tlirough tliickets and swamp. 
Notwithstanding all the resistance of the enemy and the natural obstacles 
to be overcome, he carried a position occupied by the enemy outside their 
main line, where the road makes a deep cut through a bank, affording as 
good a shelter for troops as if it had been made for the purpose. Three 
pieces of artillery were captured here and several hundred prisoners. The 
guns were immediately turned against the men who had just been using 








THE TAVERN AT COLD HARBOR. 

Fiom a photograph taken in ISST by the author. The Union line of breastworks ran in front of the house. 
The Confederate Hues were from the position of the cameni. 



them. No assistance coming to him. Barlow intrenched under fire and 
continued to hold his place. Gibbon was not so fortunate. He found the 
ground over which he had to pass cut up with deep ravines, and a morass 
difiicult to cross ; but his men struggled on until some of them got to the 
very parapet covering the enemy. Gibbon gained ground much nearer 
the enemy than that he had left, and intrenched and held fast. 

" Wright's corps, moving in two lines, captured the outer rifle-pits, but 
accomplished nothing more. Smith's corps also gained the outer rifle-pits. 



190 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

The ground over which tlie Eigliteenth Corps moved was the most ex- 
posed of any. An open plain intervened between the contending forces 
at this point, which was exposed to a direct and cross fire. . . . Warren 
and Burnside also advanced and gained ground, which brought the whole 
army on one line."(") 

Of the assault a Confederate officer says : " I was as well satisfied that 
it would come at dawn as if I had seen General Meade's order directing 
it."('^) 

This is the account of one of General Hancock's staff: "At a signal, 
Barlow advanced and found the enemy strongly posted in a sunken road, 
from which he drove them after a severe struggle, following them into 
their works under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery. Two or three 
hundred prisoners, one color, and three cannon fell into Barlow's hands. 
The captured guns were turned on the enemy by Col. L. O. Morris, of tlie 
Seventh iSTew York Heavy Artillery, and the most strenuous efforts made 
to hold the position ; but the supports were slow in coming up, an en- 
filading fire of artillery swept down the first line, the works in the rear 
opened upon them, and large bodies of fresh troops from Breckinridge's 
division, reinforced by Hill's, advanced with the utmost determination to 
retake the position. The first line held on with great stubbornness, but 
was finally forced out, Brooks being severely wounded, Colonel Byrnes 
and Col. O. H. Morris killed. Though compelled to retire, the men of 
the leading brigade would not go far. A portion of the line — Colonel 
Beaver's regiment, the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania — 
being conspicuous for its soldierly bearing, fell back to a slight crest op- 
posite the enemy's intrenchments and distant only thirty to seventy-five 
yards therefrom, and proceeded to cover themselves by loosening the earth 
with their bayonets and scraping it up with their hands or tin plates ; 
and here, at little more than pistol-range, they remained through the day. 
Miles's brigade also effected a lodgement within the works, Hapgood's 
Fifth New Hampshire, recently returned from the north, being foremost 
in the assault ; but these troops were also driven out by the enfilading 
fire of the Confederate artillery, and by the strong lines advanced against 
them."(^") 

A Confederate general has put on record the scene in front of his 
command : 

" I saw what I supposed to be a regiment, with a single flag, and an 
officer waving his sword and calling upon his men to charge. I asked my 
men to place their guns on the works and wait for orders. When the ad- 
vancing line was within seventy yards I ordered my men to fire, when the 



5 s 

I « 

I 2 

! g 

3 « 

s 




FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 193 

whole line fell to the ground, save one man, who ran behind an oak-tree, 
but was completely riddled by fifty balls in less time than it takes me to 
write it. The heroic regiment that made this gallant charge was the 
Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, which was the only regiment that obeyed the 
order to advance. The balance of the brigade had refused to go forward, 
and not since the days of Balaklava has a more heroic act been per- 
formed." (=') 

In these five minutes two hundred and twenty soldiers and officers, 
out of three hundred and thirty comprising the regiment, were killed or 
wounded. Another Confederate general thus describes the scene : 

" Our troops were under arms and waiting, when with the light of 
early morning the scattering fires of our pickets, who now occupied the 
abandoned works in the angle, announced the beginning of the attack. As 
the assaulting column swept over the old works a loud cheer was given, 
and it rushed on into the marshy ground in tiie angle. Its fi'ont covered 
a little more than the line of my own brigade of less than one thousand 
men ; but line followed line, until the space enclosed by the old salient be- 
came a mass of writhing humanity, upon which our artillery and musketry 
played witli cruel effect. . . . Sending an order for a supply of ammunition 
to be brought into the lines, I went down to the trenches to regulate the 
firing. I found the men in fine spirits, laughing and talking as they fired. 
There, too, I could see more plainly the terrible havoc made in the ranks 
of the assaulting column. I had seen the dreadful carnage in front of 
Marye's Hill at Fredericksburg, and on the old railroad-cut which Jack- 
son's men held at the Second Manassas, but I liad seen nothing to exceed 
this. It was not war, it was murder. When the fight ended, more than 
one thousand men lay in front of our works, either killed or too badly 
wounded to leave the field. . . . Tlie loss in my command was fifteen or 
twenty." (^•^) 

The color-bearer of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts fell, but one of the 
color-guards — John E. Lewis, a boy of eighteen — seized the color, and run- 
ning in advance, shouted, "Come on, boys!" Two men who accompa- 
nied him fell. Those in the rear saw the boy reeling; then beheld him 
take the staff from the socket and attempt to plant it in the ground. His 
strength was gone, and he fell dead upon the flag. Thougli the air was 
thick with bullets, David Casey ran and picked it up, and saved it from 
capture. Seventy-one per cent, of the men in this regiment fell, a loss 
exceeding that of any other regiment in a single battle during the war. (") 

Of the twenty officers on duty that morning six were killed, nine 
wounded, and two taken prisoners. 
13 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



^SS^^ I T^^^tr , ^ r^ JTJ i^ V * 




OFFICERS qUAKTKRS AT THE FRONT. 

Undaunted tlirongli the storm rnarclied one' other Union color-bearer, 
thus described by a Confederate officer : 

"AVe stood three and four deep at the works, which we had strained 
every nerve and muscle during the night to complete, the men in the rear 
handing up loaded guns and taking empty ones from their comrades in 
front. We had never had nor desired a better chance to protect ourselves 
and damage an enemy. Line after line came out of the opposite woods, 
only to melt away under our continuous fire, until M^itli the last line, which 
went the way of all the others, came a tall color-bearer, a sergeant, who 
bore his charge high in the air, as with steady tread he confidently ad- 
vanced, looking only to the front and oblivious to his isolation. Amazed 
at his persistence, our men withheld their fire and called to him to go 
back ; but he did not hear, or if perchance he did, he did not take his 
orders from our side. However that may be, he gave no sign, and all 
alone, with not a comrade in sight, he came unfalteringly on. Not even 
desiring to capture so brave a fellow, our men in gray mounted the works, 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



195 



and waving their liats to attract liis attention, fairly shrieked, in tlieir in- 
tense admiration and excitement, ' Go back ! go back !' ' We don't want 
to kill you !' ' Go back !' Then this man of iron halted, looked care- 
fully to his right hand as he surveyed the field, and then as carefully to 
his left — not a man of his regiment in sight ! It would have been no dis- 
grace to liave dropped or hurried back as fast as he could. Admirable 
courage ! lie did neither, nor was there -a show of any anxiety. He took 




BOMB-PROOF SHELTER. 



his flag-staff from its socket, rolled up his color with provoking deliberate- 
ness in our faces — the dipping of it we thought an unconscious tribute to 
our forbearance — and when done, touched his cap to us in grateful appre- 
ciation. A right-shoulder shift, an about face, and then began his march 
back to his own lines with a step as steady as had been his advance. He 
liad quite bewitched us by his nerve, but the spell was broken as he turned, 
and, tremulous with excitement, we threw up our hats and yelled in admi- 



196 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

ration until his retiring ligure was lost in the deep recesses of the far-away 
lines." (") 

The soldiers, in charging over the fields of Cold Harbor, swept by 
Confederate cannon and musketry, knew that many men must necessarily 
die, but there was no faltering. In no battle was there a more pathetic 
exhibition of devotion to the flag they loved. Color -sergeant John 
Mitchell, of the Twenty -seventh Michigan, was carried back mortally 
wounded. 

"I want you," he said to a comrade, "to go to Port Huron, and see 
my old father and mother, and tell them that I carried the flag until I 
was shot. I am not afraid to die. It is very little that one can do for so 
good a cause. Good-bye, boys. Don't forget how John Mitchell died." 

Equally touching the pathos of the death of Captain O'Neill, of the 
Massachusetts Twenty-flfth Regiment, who said: "Doctor, I am willing to 
die for that dear old flag. I only wish I had two lives to give to my 
country." (^^) 

General Grant saw that it was not possible to break through the Con- 
federate lines, for the loss to General Lee probably did not much exceed 
one thousand. He says: "No advantage whatever was gained to compen- 
sate for the heavy losses we sustained. Indeed the advantages, other than 
those of relative losses, were on the Confederate side."(") 

Many of the Union wounded, who were lying between the opposing 
armies, could not be relieved. Through the hot, sultry sun)mer day of 
June 3d they lay in the burning sun. AVhen night came a 
' few Union soldiers crept out on their hands and knees to 

give the wounded water, but were shot by the Confederates. Through 
the following day they lay there. On the 5th, General Grant sent a letter 
by flag of truce to General Lee, proposing that when no battle was raging 
either party be authorized to send out unarmed men to care for the 
wounded without being fired upon by either party. General Lee replied 
on the 6th, that when either party wished to remove the wounded a flag 
of truce must be sent. General Grant sent a second letter, accepting the 
conditions, proposing that the wounded be removed between twelve and 
three o'clock that day, each party bearing a white flag, and that no Union 
soldier was to go beyond the ground occupied by the Confederate troops. 
General Lee replied that he could not consent to such an arrangement, 
but that when either party desired such permission, it should be asked for 
by flag of truce ; and that he had directed that any parties coming out as 
proposed by General Grant be turned back. General Grant thereupon 
asked for a suspension of hostilities. When the parties went out on the 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOR. 



197 



morning of the 7th to collect the wounded, they found only two alive. 
Such the indescribable horror of the war brought about by the slave-hold- 
ers to perpetuate their power. 

General Grant regretted that he had ordered the assault, which was so 
disastrous. As in Burnside's attack at Fredericksburg, Lee's at Gettys- 




SHARP-SHOOTERS, EIGHTEENTH CORPS. 



burg, the charge upon Cemetery Ridge, and the attempt of the Confed- 
erates at Malvern Hill and Knox ville, there was great loss of life, with no 
compensating advantage. 

The soldiers had constructed very strong intrench men ts, behind which 

they were lying. There was a constant firing between the sharp-shooters 

of the armies ever on the watch. I was at the headquarters 

June 7, 1864. ,. ^ , ^ , . . . i ^u 

oi General Grant, who was sitting upon a camp-stool, smok- 
ing a cigar. He listened to the firing, and said: "Ever since this army 
reached the Wilderness, a month ago, there has been scarcely an hour of 
silence. It has been one prolonged battle. The army is tired and needs 
rest. It has been figliting or else on the march all the time. I have 
heard so much firing that I cannot tell the difference between the mus- 



198 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



ketry and the stamping of the horses out yonder, to rid themselves of the 
flies." ('') 

Before starting from Culpeper General Grant had looked far enough 
into the possible future to see that he might be obliged to go to the James 
River. On the first day of June he sent an order to Washington for pon- 
toons to be transported to the James, that he might cross that stream. 
He had no intention of attempting to advance against Richmond from 
the region of the Chickahominy. So while the pontoons were on the 
way from Washington the army rested. 



( "■ 



NOTES TO CHAPTER YII. 

Author's Note-book, 1864. 

Idem. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs," vol.'ii., p. 248. 

Idem, p. 249. 

Idem, p. 253. 

Author's Note-book, 1864. 

Idem. 

Idem. 

Geu. Philip H. Sheridan, "Personal ^lemoirs," vol. i., p. 400. 

Gen. William F. Smith's Report. 

Gen. James Longstreet's Official Diary. 

"History Thirteenth New Hampshire Regiment," p. 344. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 268. 

" History Twent3--second ^Massachusetts Regiment," p. 458. 

Gen. A. L. Long, "Life of Robert E. Lee," p. 347. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 269. 

"History Tenth Massachusetts Battery," p. 198. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 269. 

Gen. A. M. Law, Century Magazine, June, 1887, p. 298. 

Gen. F. A. Walker, " History of the Second Army Corps," p. 511. 

Gen. T. D. Bowles, PMladdphia Times, June 21, 1885. 

Gen. A. M. Law, Century Magazine, June, 1885. 

"Histor}" Massachusetts Twenty fifth Regiment of Infantry." 

Capt. James H. Franklin, Fourth Alabama — Manuscript transmitted to author, 

by E. F. Witherby, Shglby, Alabama. 
" History Company A, Mas.sachu.setts Twentj^-flfth Regiment," p. 328. 
Gen. U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 276. 
Author's Note-book, 1864. 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 199 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 

GENERAL SHERMAN issued his orders as commander of the Mili- 
tary District of the Mississippi at Nashville. It included what had 
formerly been the Departments of the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and 
Arkansas. General Grant wanted one controlling mind west of the Alle- 
ghanies. He believed in concentration. AVe have already 

March 18, 1864. *= , . i • i i . i ^i *. f ^.^ 

seen what his general plan was to be — the movement oi the 
Army of the Potomac against the Confederate army under Lee, in Vir- 
ginia ; the marshalling of the consolidated armies of the west, under Sher- 
man, against the Confederate army at Dalton, thirty miles south of Chatta- 
nooga, under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. Three armies were consolidated 
into one — the Army of the Ohio, under General Schofield, 14,000 ; the 
Army of the Tennessee, under General McPherson, 25,000 ; the Army of 
the Cumberland, under General Thomas, 60,000. The entire force, includ- 
ing the cavalry, numbered nearly 100,000, with 251 guns. 

A general commanding a great army, and moving into an enemy's 
country, with a hostile population behind him, has many things to think 
of, and must take long looks ahead. Chattanooga is one hundred and 
thirty miles from Nashville, Sherman's base of supplies, reached by a 
single track of iron rails. From Nashville to Louisville is one hundred 
and eighty -five miles. The entire distance must be guarded. There 
must be soldiers ever on the watch, for the Confederates were on the 
alert to throw a rail from its place, set fire to a bridge, wreck a train, or 
block the road. To feed one hundred thousand men, and all the mules 
and horses, would require great energy. The line of advance was to be 
through a country already exhausted of supplies, and so wasted that the 
people from Nashville to Chattanooga were on the verge of starvation, 
and must be supplied with food. General Sherman could not move 
without accumulating a large amount of food and ammunition at Chat- 
tanooga. To the poor people it seemed a cruel order which he issued, 
limiting the use of the cars to the transportation of food and supplies for 



200 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

the arm}'', and forbidding the issue of provisions to tlie suffering. He 
compelled the commanders of posts within thirty miles of Kasliville to 
haul their supplies in wagons. The soldiers going to and returning from 
the army were obliged to march, and all the cattle purchased for beef 
were driven instead of being transported in the cars. As there was little 
for the cattle to eat, they were not much more than skin and bones when 
they reached the army. By this strict order the capacity of the railroad 
was nearly doubled ; but General Sherman saw that there must be more 
engines and cars. Necessity knows no law, and military law does just as 
it pleases. He called the Master of Transportation, Colonel Anderson, the 
Chief Quartermaster, General Donaldson, and his Chief Commissary, Gen- 
eral Beckwith, to Nashville. 

" One hundred thousand men and thirty-five thousand animals must 
be fed, and supplies accumulated," said Sherman. 

" You must have one hundred and thirty car-loads a day, and we have 
not enough cars or engines to do it," is the reply. 

" Seize all the cars and engines that arrive in Nashville from the 
North," was the order, and four hundred cars and forty engines were seized. 

" We must have our cars and engines back again, or we cannot bring 
your supplies from Louisville to Nashville," said Mr. Guthrie, president of 
the railroad. 

"You must stand by me. Seize cars and engines that come to Louis- 
ville from Cincinnati," was the reply, and the order was carried out. (') 

In a short time train was succeeding train in quick succession. Gen- 
eral Sherman left the railroads to settle with the Government as best they 
could. Managers of railroads in the North, wondering what had become 
of their cars, found them, many months after Sherman was at Atlanta, 
doing service on this greatest military highway of the country. 

Baggage is called impedimenta because it hinders an army in its move- 
ments. Stonewall Jackson understood it better than any other command- 
er. Confederate or Union, during the war. Sherman resolved that his 
army should move in light marching order. Tents were forbidden, except 
to the sick and wounded. Only one tent was allowed to each headquar- 
ters for an office. Sherman liimself set an example, neither himself nor 
his staff having a tent or furniture of any kind. They only had "flies," 
which they could spread over fence-rails or poles to shelter them from the 
rain, and which could be carried by soldiers on their shoulders, or strapped 
to saddles. By this means the wagon-trains were greatly reduced. The 
cam])aign was to be through the mountain region, where there were but 
few roads, and those winding through naiTow valleys. ('') 




I'ly 



t, 1, 



11 



■'4 



If 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA, 203 

The great Appalachian chain of nionntains begins to fade out in Cen- 
tral Georgia; but from Cliattanooga to Atlanta, a distance of seventy-five 
miles, the mountains are like the waves of the sea, long, parallel ranges, 
running north-east and south-west. The little creeks which empty into 
the Tennessee from the south are not more than twenty or thirty miles 
long. The railroad which runs from Chattanooga to Atlanta winds along 
the Chickamauga Creek, through a gap in Taylor's Ridge at Ringgold, 
then goes on to Rocky Face Ridge, piercing it at Tunnel Hill. The sides 
of the gorge are steep and rocky. Buzzards wheel and circle high in air 
above the cliffs, and at night find roost upon the trees. In years gone b}', 
somebody named the place Buzzard's Roost. Four miles farther south we 
come to Dalton. The raindrops which fall on the w^estern slope of Rocky 
Face Ridge flow to the Tennessee, and thence to the Ohio and Mississippi ; 
but the springs which rise on the eastern slope take a much shorter course, 
to the Gulf of Mexico, through the Coosa. At Dalton a railroad comes 
down from Cleveland and Knoxville. Ten miles south of Dalton is the 
town of Resaca, on the north bank of the Oostenaula, one of the branches 
of the Coosa. ' 

Through the winter of 1863-04 the Confederate army occupied Tun- 
nel Hill and Dalton. ISTo attempt had been made to drive it from its 
chosen position. The Union army was not ready to move. It was under- 
going reorganization and consolidation. We have already seen General 
Grant made commander of all the armies, with Sherman placed at the 
head of all the troops west of the mountains. 

While Sherman is getting ready to move let us take a near look at the 
Confederate army at Buzzard's Roost and Dalton. 

It was a sad day for General Bragg and the Confederate army, in that 
last week of October, 1863, when they were swept from Missionary Ridge 
and compelled to flee southward to Dalton, setting on lire an immense 
pile of corn in sacks, hundreds of barrels of flour, bacon, bread, pease, 
sugar, staving in the heads of molasses hogsheads. A river of syrup flowed 
along the railway at Chickamauga Station. The soldiers filled their can- 
teens and dippers. Those who had no dippers lay down and drank from 
the flowing stream, getting their uncut beard and hair gummed with the 
sticky melada. They emptied the corn from the sacks, filled them with 
bread, flung them across their shoulders, jabbed their bayonets into sides 
of bacon, filled their pockets with sugar. They had been kept on short 
rations, but now helped themselves liberaHy. They cursed General Bragg 
as the prime cause of all their misfortunes. It was a blunder, they 
said, to send Longstreet to Knoxville, when every soldier was needed 



204 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

at Chattanooga. Bragg never was liked by his men, neither by liis 
officers. 

General Taylor, of the Confederate army, draws this portrait of liim : 
" He was the most laborious of commanders, devoting every moment to 
the discharge of his duties. As a disciplinarian he far surpassed any of 
tlie senior Confederate generals, but his metliod was harsh, and he could 
have won the affections of his troops only by leading them to victory. 
Many years of .dyspepsia had made him sour and petulant, and he was in- 
tolerant to a degree of neglect of duty, or what he estimated to be such, 
by his officers." (') 

Some of the retreating soldiers laughed over the misfortune that had 
come to him who had been so sharp towards them, and were not sorry 
that he had been defeated. It was a sore blow to Bragg, who asked to be 
relieved of the command, and was called to Richmond to be Jefferson 
Davis's military counsellor. 

The people of the South demanded that Gen, Joseph E. Johnston 
should be appointed commander. President Davis did not like him, but 
the clamor was so great that he was forced to coiriply, and on December 
27th Johnston assumed command. Through the winter he kept a large 
gang of slaves at work with axes and shovels, constructing fortifications at 
points along the railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta, correctly sur- 
mising that the Union army would make its next move towards that great 
workshop of the Confederacy, where founderies were flaming and ma- 
chinery whirling, turning out arms for the army. A soldier draws this 
picture of General Johnston : " Fancy, if you please, a man about fifty 
years old, rather small of stature but firmly built, an open countenance, 
and a keen, restless eye that seemed to read your inmost thoughts. In his 
dress he was a perfect dandy. He ever wore the finest clothes that could 
be obtained, can-ying out in dress and the paraphernalia of the soldier the 
plan adopted by the War Department at Richmond, never omitting any- 
tiiing, even to the trappings of his horse, bridle and saddle. His hat was 
decorated with a star and feather, his coat with every star and embellish- 
ment, and he wore a bright new sash, big gauntlets, and silver spurs. He 
was the very picture of a general." (') 

The army was in a sad plight when he assumed command. The men 
were losing hope and deserting. They had little to eat. A train came 
whirling into Dalton, and almost before the cars came to a stand -still 
the soldiers broke them open and helped themselves to supplies. Gen- 
eral Johnston wisely ordered two days' rations to be issued, one of them 
an extra supply. Bragg had scrimped them, but he gave them all they 




FKOM KINGGOLD TO liESACA. 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 207 

could eat. He ordered tobacco and whiskey to be issued twice a week, and 
sugar, coffee, and flour instead of meal. He ordered tents, clotlies, shoes, 
and hats, and gave furloughs to one-third of the army at a time, till every 
soldier had an opportunity to go home ; thus imitating General Hooker, 
who brought up the spirits of the Union army after the defeat of Fred- 
ericksburg. Bragg had been strict about small things, ordering roll-call 
several times a day. We are' to remember that volunteering had ceased 
long before Bragg became commander, and that the largest part of the 
army had been conscripted, the soldiers compelled to take their places in 
the ranks. Quite likely Bragg ordered frequent roll-calls as a guard 
against desertion. Johnston trusted the soldiers, was kind to them, and 
soon won their confidence. He ordered that they sliould be paid. True, 
the money was nearly worthless, but it was something for the Govern- 
ment to keep its faith with them. He ordered that fifty dollars bounty 
be paid to eacii. man. It cost only the printing. The promises to 
pay would never be redeemed, but it made the soldiers happy. That 
was the gain. 

General Johnston had brought the Confederate army up to a high 
state of efficiency. He was severe in discipline. Seventeen men Avere 
shot at Tunnel Hill for disobedience, and several more at Rocky Face 
Ridge. Instead of the whipping-post, he established the j)illory. Men 
who committed petty crimes were incased in barrels. A Confederate 
soldier gives this picture of an execution : " The snow was on the ground, 
and the boys were hard at it snowballing. While I was standing looking 
on, a file of soldiers marched by me with a poor fellow on his way to be 
shot. He was blindfolded and set upon a stump, and the detail was 
formed. The command, ' Ready ! aim ! fire !' was given, the volley dis- 
charged, and the prisoner fell off the stump. He had not been killed. 
It was the sergeant's duty to give the couj) de grace should not the pris- 
oner be slain. Tlie sergeant ran up and placed the muzzle of the gun 
at the head of the poor pleading and entreating wretch, his gun was dis- 
charged, and the wretched man only powder-burned, the gun being one 
that had been loaded with powder only. The whole affair had to be gone 
over again. The soldiers had to reload and form and fire. The culprit 
was killed stone-dead this time. He had no sooner been taken up and 
carried off to be buried than the soldiers were throwing snowballs as hard 
as ever, as if nothing had happened." (^) 

The army under Johnston, on the last day of April, consisted of 
Hood's and Hardee's corps, and Wheeler's cavalry, in all 52,992. Rein- 
forcements were on their way. Mercei-'s brigade of 2800 came three days 



208 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



May 1, 1864. 



later. On tlie Ttli, Canty's division of 5500 reached Kesaca. General 
Polk hurried up from Mississippi with his corps of 12,000. Other divis- 
ions were forwarded so rapidly that on the second week in May the Con- 
federate army numbered between 70,000 and 80,000 men. 

The Union army under Sherman, as we have seen, with lieadquarters 
at Chattanooga, on the 1st of May comprised three distinct armies — be- 
sides a portion of the Army of the Potomac — the Eleventh 
and Twelfth corps, which had been sent West after the 
battle of Chickamauga. Battle, sickness, and the expiration of service 

had sadly thinned the ranks 
of the regiments of the veter- 
ans from the East. Sherman 
decided to consolidate them into 
one corps. The veterans were 
proud of their achievements. 
The men of the Eleventh did 
not want to be merged into the 
Twelfth, nor did the soldiers of 
the Twelfth desire to lose their 
identity in the Eleventh. Gen- 
eral Sherman respected the spirit 
of the men, and created a new 
corps — the Twentieth — to win 
new victories, and make a his- 
tory of its own. General Hooker 
was appointed commander, and 
the corps was attached to the 
Army of the Cumberland. Be- 
sides the Twentieth, General Thomas had the Fourth, under General 
Howard, who had commanded the Eleventh, and the Fourteenth, under 
General Palmer. 

The Army of the Tennessee was composed of the Fifteenth Corps, un- 
der General Logan ; the Seventeenth, under General Blair ; and the Six- 
teenth, under General Dodge ; but only two divisions of the Sixteentli 
were at Chattanooga. The Army of the Ohio had but one corps, the 
Twenty-third. 

The 5th of May was selected by General Grant for the beginning of 
the movement, which he desired should be simultaneous with that of the 
Army of the Potomac in Yirginia. On that morning Genei'al Thomas 
was at Ringgold, Schotield east of him, marching down from Cleveland, 







MAJOU-GEN. GEORGE H. THOMAS. 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 



209 



May 1, 1864. 



while McPherson was crossing the old battle-field of Chickamauga, to 
come ill upon the right of Thomas. 

General Sherman had looked ahead to see about the resources of the 
country, consulting the census tables of 1860 of every county in Georgia, 
showing the quantity of corn and the number of cattle, that he might 
make calculations for the support of the army in case he could not ob- 
tain all he needed from the North. 

On May 7th General Thomas came upon the Confederates at Tunnel 
Hill, and drove off the pickets holding it. From the hill Sherman looked 
down past Buzzard's Roost. He could see the long lines of 
works, the Confederate cannon reflecting the sunlight, and 
the dams built across 
the creek, forming min- 
iature lakes. He had 
no intention of attack- 
ing the formidable po- 
sition, but he directed 
McPherson and Hook- 
er to move towards 
Snake Creek, a little 
stream which springs 
from the mountain's 
side south-west of Dal- 
ton. There is a gap in 
the mountains, with a 
road winding through 
it. It seems not to have 
occurred to Johnston 
that Sherman would use 
it to turn his flank and 
rear. Not till McPher- 
son was through the gap 
did Johnston see that 

he had left a side-door open, by which Sherman could walk into Resaca. 
Hooker, with the Twentieth Corps, followed McPherson, 
who, at two o'clock on the 9th, was within a mile and a 
half of the railroad at Resaca. He met a brigade of cavalry, which re- 
treated. Had he pressed on he might have seized the railroad ; but he acted 
with caution, and fell back to the gap till morning. The ablest command- 
ers and the best of men err in judgment and make mistakes. McPherson 
14 




MAJOR-GENERAL MoPHERSON. 



Mav 9, 1864. 



2i0 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

lost a m-eat opportunity. He had twenty-three thousand men, Hooker was 
behind him, and had he moved on to Resaca there would have been con- 
sternation in the Confederate army. Johnston would have been compelled 




BUZZAKDS KOOST. 



to either divide his army or to retreat eastward, abandoning the me of rail- 
road and his supplies. If the latter, Thomas and Schohe d would have been 
position to pounce upon him, as hounds upon a startled deer. General 



in 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 



211 



Johnston has been looked upon as one of tlie ablest of Confederate coin- 
manders, but the neglect to guard Snake Creek Gap has been regarded 
as a glaring defect in his plan of defence. The caution of McPherson was 
due to the terms of his instructions from Sherman. It was an error of 
judgment on the safe side, but had he seized tlie railroad it would prob- 
ably have been a disastrous day to Johnston. " Had he done so," says 
Sherman, " I am certain that Johnston would not have ventured to attack 
liim in position, but would have retreated towards Spring Place, and we 
should have captured half of his army and all his baggage at the begin- 
ning of tlie campaign.'' C) 

Johnston was thus forced to abandon all the strong works at Dalton. 
The breastworks, the dam, were of no account. It was not agreeable, but 
there was no lielp for it ; and so we see the Confederates hastening back 



»l>a 




\ ^*^"-V'W.f 










CAVALRY ENGAGEMENT, SNAKE CREEK GAP. 



to Kesaca, and tlie soldiers constructing other breastworks, the army no 

longer facing north, but west. The campaign had opened, and the two 

mighty armies were in position for the first great battle. 

It was startling news to Johnston that tlie Union troops were moving 

towards Resaca on the road from Sugar Valley post-oflice. While he liad 

yf ^ ,c... ^6Gn watcliing his front and right, Sherman had been turn- 
May 9, 1864. . , . , o ' 

ing his left, and was moving to seize the railroad at Resaca. 
There were only a few troops at that place to hold McPherson in check. 



212 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Just how many were there cannot be ascertained. A citizen of Kesaca, 
wlio was at home on that afternoon, informed rne that tliere was only a 
part of a brigade in the village. (') It is quite probable that when the 
skirmishers of McPherson were seen coming through the woods west of 
the railroad there were but a handful of Confederates at the station guard- 
ing the road and bridge over the Oostenaula. Others under General 
Canty soon came from the fort, on the hill east of tlie village. They 
went upon the run out through the meadow west of the railroad. Some 
rushed up the hill north-west of the village and opened fire. They strung 
themselves out in a long line, and made all the racket possible. McPher- 
son's troops, instead of rushing on with a hurrah, as they might have 
done, came to a halt in the edge of the woods west of Mr. Hill's house. 
They were only a third of a mile from the railroad and the bridge which 
spans the Oostenaula. Let them rush on and seize them, and there M'ill 
be trouble in Johnston's army. All communications with Atlanta will be 
cut off. 1^0 more supplies can be brought up. Let them but rush on, 
and to-morrow's morn will see Johnston doing one of two things — either 
bringing a large part of his army from Buzzard's Roost to attack McPher- 
son, or his whole army will be moving eastward along the country roads, 
attempting to reach Atlanta. 

"McPherson," writes General Sherman, "found the Gap undefended, 
and accomplished a complete surprise to the enemy. At its farther de- 
bouche he met a cavalry brigade, which was easily driven and which re- 
treated hastily towards Dal ton and doubtless carried to Johnston the first 
intimation that a heavy force of artillery and infantry was in his rear and 
within a few miles of the railroad. I got a note from McPherson that 
day, written at 2 p.m., when he was within one and a half miles of the 
railroad, above and near Resaca. I renewed orders to Thomas and Scho- 
field to be ready for instant pursuit of what I expected to be a beaten and 
disordered ^rmy, forced to retreat by roads to the east of Resaca, which 
were known to be very rough and impracticable." (") 

A few weeks later McPherson gave up liis life, and we shall never know 
just what considerations turned him back when he was so near the covet- 
ed prize. Shall we say that the time had not come? It is General Sher- 
man's view that the country was not ready for the breaking up of the 
Rebellion. "We are to remember that the Confederate Government had 
taken great offence at the enlistment of negroes as soldiers ; that they 
would not recognize them in exchange of prisoners. Li the North were 
men bitterly hostile to the proclamation of President Lincoln giving 
freedom to the slav^es as a war measure, and were denouncing the war as 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 



213 



unrighteous and wicked. If Johnston's army liad been annihilated at the 
outset of the campaign, with such animosity against tlie colored race, 
would the measure of freedom be what it is to-day ? AVoukl the negroes 
have become citizens of the republic? Under an all-wise Providence, 
which sees through from the beginning to the end, which guides the na- 
tion to its mighty destiny, McPherson turned back. There must con- 




ENGAGEMENT AT DUG GAP. 



tinue the outpouring of the precious wine of life, the agony of the battle- 
field, the hospital, the endurance of the prison, the lengthening trenches 
of the dead, and ghastly scenes of Andersonville, the sacrifice of thou- 
sands of lives, before the government of the people could be estab- 
lished on an enduring basis, with the full measure of liberty to every 
man, irrespective of race or color, before the United States could take 
the exalted place of leader and teacher of all the nations in their march 
towards freedom. 

From Dalton a road leads westward up the steep mountain-side to 
Dug Gap, where there was an engagement just before the battle of Chick- 
amauga ("Marcliing to Victory," page 396). Again there was a sharp 



214 



EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



engagement between the Union troops under General Geary, of Hooker's 
corps, and General Stevenson's division of Confederates, the Union troops 
climbing the steep ascent, driving the Confederate skirmishers. General 
Sherman designed the movement as a feint, a demonstration which had 
the effect of blinding the Confederates as to his intentions. 

Although McPherson had gained the left flank and threatened the 
rear of the Confederate army, Johnston, finding that he had fallen back, 
made all haste to hold Resaca till he could withdraw the army from Dal- 
ton. Sherman was in no hurry to compel his departure. He was plan- 
ning a lai'ger movement. He withdrew Schotield, sending Williams's di- 
vision of Hooker's corps to support McPherson, and waited for Stoneman's 
division of cavalry, which was coming to join them. He issued orders to 
Schofield to go through Snake Creek Gap and join McPherson, and so 
liis whole army was in motion towards Resaca. 

There was a sudden packing of wagons at Dalton on the afternoon of 
May 12, 1864. The Confederate artillery went down the road, the horses 
upon the gallop and the infantry upon the run, towards Re- 
saca. Major-general Polk's corps was in the advance, mov- 
ing to head off the Union troops under McPherson, which were west of 
Resaca. The left of the Confederate line rested on the Oostenaula. 



May 12, 1864. 




RAILKOAD DEPOT AT RESACA, GEORGIA. 



Dnring the night the soldiers were hard at work with their shovels, 
throwing up breastworks on the swell of ground by the house of Mr. Hill 
and on the ridge north-west of the railroad. When morning dawned 
McPherson beheld a long line of embankments in front of him. A little 
stream comes down from the north — Camp Creek — and empties into the 
Oostenaula a half-mile Avest of the railroad. The ridge of around alonaj 
which Johnston was throwing up his line of defence lies between the creek 
and the railroad. Next to Polk was Hardee with his corps, then Hood. 
Polk and Hardee faced west, while Hood looked towards the north. 

The long lines of wagons belonging to the Union army were parked 



FKOxM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 



215 




at tlie lower end of Snake Creek Gap, guarded by Ilovey's division of the 
Army of the Ohio. General McPherson advanced with Logan's corps on 
his riglit, and the cavalry under Kilpatiick going out through the woods 
and fields towards the south-west, while the other divisions moved alono- 
the road and north of it towards Resaca. General Thomas came in from 
the west towards the house of Mr. Moore, witli Hooker opposite tlie 
house of Mr, Ruckert, which the Confederates tore down to obtain lumber 
for their breastworks. General Schofield, 
with the divisions of Generals Judah and 
Cox, moved in rear of Thomas, crossed 
the field near the house of Mr, Wright 
and the meadows at the head of Camp 
Creek, turned south, and faced General 
Hood. General Howard, with the Fourth 
Corps, was on the march from Dalton, 
along the railroad, picking up straggling 
Confederates who had dropped behind in 
the retreat. General Sherman received 
word that the Fourth Corps was close 
at hand, that all the troops were in posi- 
tion, and ordered an advance of the en- 
tire line. It was about noon when Gen- 
eral Sherman rode up to the point on the line east of Mr. Wright's 
house, where the Army of the Ohio joined the Army of the Cumberland. 
General Schofield and General Thomas were both there, and together they 
watched the movement. There were several little streams to cross, fences 
which must be torn down, and thick brambles which impeded their way. 
The artillery found it difficult to get across the miry meadow, and the 
advance was quite slow. Schofield's two divisions moved south — General 
Cox on the east side of the Dalton road. General Judah west of it. The 
artillery begun the battle. A little later a line of skirmishers in blue 
picked their way along the fences across the meadow, and the musketry 
opened. The Confederate skirmishers east of the road were driven across 
the little creek ; but those behind the fences and in a thicket by the 
bridge kept up a sharp fire, and held the ground a while, but were driven 
at last, and then the whole Army of the Ohio crossed the creek. The 
battle was fierce east of the road, where Cox's brigades rushed upon the 
Confederates and drove them from their breastworks. The Confederates 
fell back to a second line of works. Cox could advance no farther, and 
the men dropped down behind the breastworks which they had captured, 



GEN. LEONIDAS POLK. 



216 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

holding them until General Howard brought up "Wood's and Newton's 
divisions to support him. The division under General Judah had a harder 
task to perform, and was less fortunate. The ground over which the 
troops marched was broken, and there were tangled thickets through 
which they must charge up a steep hill swept b}' a cross-fire from the 
Confederate batteries. Three brigades moved steadily forward. Shells 
exploded among them, and a pitiless storm beat upon them from the vet- 
eran Confederate soldiers under Hood, who had been in a score of battles, 
and the Union men were repulsed with heavy loss. 

General Johnston discovered that General Stanley's division of General 
Howard's corps, east of the Dalton road, in rear of General Wood's divis- 
ion, had no support, and laid his plans to strike a heavy blow. Hood sent 
two of his divisions. General Stewart's and General Stevenson's, directing 
them to come round upon Stanley's left flank and crush it. Yery fortu- 
nately for the Union army, at the same moment General Sherman, finding 
that there was not sufficient room to deploy all of Thomas's troops, sent 
Hooker eastward towards the Dalton road, the troops marching in rear of 
the Army of the Ohio. Johnston, to conceal his movement and to pre- 
vent Sherman from sending supports to Stanley, ordered the Confederate 
artillery to open all along the line. He did not know that Hooker was on 
his way towards Stanley's position. The Confederates under Stewart and 
Stevenson came upon Stanley, making a fierce attack, but soon found them- 
selves confronted by a superior force. Williams's division of Hooker's 
cor]>s w'as in advance, and arrived just at the moment when Stanley needed 
him. The Confederates were repulsed with great loss, and the Union 
troops held the ground. 

Going down now to the Army of the Tennessee, we find General Os- 
terhaus, M'ith a division of Logan's corps, on the road which leads west from 
Resaca to Sugar Valley post-office. The Confederate troops at this point 
were west of Camp Creek. There was a bridge across the creek, which 
they held. There were thick woods along the valley, and the Confederate 
skirmishers were sheltering themselves behind the trees. The Twelfth 
Missouri, of Osterhaus's connnand, was on the skirmish line, and the sol- 
diers gained the rear of the Confederates, who abandoned the west bank 
and fled across the bridge. General Logan ordered Gen. Giles A. Smith 
and Gen. C. 11. Woods, with their brigades, supported by Veatch's divis- 
ion, to advance. They crossed the creek, drove the Confederates, secured 
a strong position, and threw up intrenchments. The artillery hastened 
forward, came into position, and sent shells crashing into the railroad- 
station and the bridge spanning the Oostenaula. 




GENERAL SHERMAN. 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 219 

General Polk made an attempt to capture tlie cannon, but his troops 
were repulsed. From the moment that Logan gained this position Gen- 
eral Jolmston saw that he must retreat, No railroad trains could brino- 
him supplies across the bridge. He set his engineers to work construct- 
ing one bridge near the railroad crossing, and another around the bend 
a mile east of the railroad bridge, beyond the reach of the Union artil- 
lery. 

Wliile the cannon were thundering at Resaca, General Sherman was 
executing another important move. He had no intention of attacking 
Johnston beliind his breastworks, but hoped to gain his rear, intercept 
his line of communication with Atlanta, and compel him to fight a bat- 
tle in. the open field. The course of the Oostenaula is south-west. The 
railroad runs nearly south, and he sent Kilpatrick's division of cavalry 
and Sweeny's division of infantry down the west bank of the river ten 
miles, to Lay's Ferry, with a pontoon train, with orders to cross the river 
and secure a position on the east bank. If this could be successfully done, 
if he could cross the river at that point and seize the railroad near the 
town of Calhoun, he would compel Johnston either to fight him or retreat 
across the country towards Kenesaw Mountain. The cavalry reached the 
river, drove the Confederate pickets across the stream, and pushed out on 
all the roads. Captain Reese, McPherson's chief engineer, had the pon- 
toons in place in a very short time. One of Sweeny's brigades had 
crossed, when a messenger came down the road, informing Sweeny that 
the Confederates were crossing the river above him, to gain his rear and 
cut off his retreat. The troops were recalled upon the run, and Sweeny 
marched a mile and a half before he found that it was a false report. 

General Johnston learned that General Sherman's troops were crossing 
at Lay's Ferry, and sent Martin's cavalry and Walker's division of infan- 
try to Calhoun to hold the railroad. Had not Sweeny hastened back, but 
pushed on to the railroad, he might possibly have seized it; but it is doubt- 
ful if he could have held it. ILad he done so, it is certain that there 
would have been a sudden commotion in Johnston's centre at Resaca. 
On the evening of the 15tli of May we see Sweeny once more crossing 
the Oostenaula, and moving towards Calhoun ; but he was not strong 
enough to take possession of the railroad. 

At sunrise the following morning the skirmishers were firing all 

along the line. General Sherman was intending to make a vigorous de- 

monstration. Durinai; the night the Fourteenth Corps had 

Mav 15, 1864. , , ^L ° i i c. , .. i , , . 

moved to the ground occupied by Schoneld, who in turn 
had moved east, thus lengthening the line. Johnston saw what was 



220 



REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 



going on, and witlidrew a portion of Hardee's and Polk's troops to rein- 
force Hood, 

It is past noon before the demonstration begins. Bntterfield's division 
of Hooker's corps, and Stevenson's of Hood's, are tlie first to clash. In- 
stead of a demonstration it soon becomes a furious battle. Stevenson 
brings forward a battery to a knoll, from which he will hurl a storm of 
shell upon the Union army, but the sharp-shooters in blue pick off the 
gunners, who abandon their cannon. Through the afternoon the uproar 




DRAGGING OUT TUE CAKNON. 



goes on, the Union men gaining inch by inch, driving Stevenson, who is 
not able to withdraw the cannon. The Union soldiers crouch under the 
breastworks, holding the ground gained. Night closes over the scene, and 
then, under cover of the darkness, illumined by the flashing of guns, they 
dig away the earth and drag the captured cannon from the trenches. 
Through the night the intrenchments are strengthened. 

General Sherman intends to make them so strong that a few troops 
will be able to hold them, while he withdraws the remainder of the army 
for the movement by Lay's Ferry to gain Johnston's rear. 

Commanders of armies are often obliged to do things that are exceed- 



FROM- CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 



221 



ingly distasteful. General Johnston had been compelled to give np his 
strong position at Dalton because he left a door open at Snake Creek Gap, 
by which Sherman outflanked him. There were no mountain passes 
around him at Resaca ; but the Oostenaula was at his back, too deep to be 
forded. The Union army was moving to get in his rear, and there wnis 
but one course to pursue. He must retreat before Sherman can transfer 
his troops across the Oostenaula at Lay's Ferry. lie must be quick about 
it. He must abandon all the lines of breastworks which have been thrown 
up, and find another position. He issues his orders accordingly. Before 
the sun goes down the wagon-trains are ready to move. As soon as it is 
dark the troops begin to withdraw, Polk's corps crossing the railroad 
bridge, Hardee's corps the bridge immediately above it, Hood's corps 
the bridge beyond the bend. Morning dawns, but no Confederate troops 
are at Resaca ; all have gone, and the bridges are on fire. 

The newspapers of the South said that Johnston was falling back to get 
Sherman away from his supplies, that he might utterly crush him in a great 
battle which would soon be fought ; that Sherman would have 
fewer troops the farther he advanced, because he would be 
obliged to detach a large force to guard the railroad. Johnston, on the 
other hand, would be getting nearer his base of supplies, while his army 
would be growing stronger day by day. Governor Brown, of Georgia, 



May 17, 1864. 




BURNING BRIDGE AT RESACA. 

From a Sketch made ou the momiiig of May 16, 1864. 



called out the militia, which would guard the railroad, while the regular 
troops could all be employed against Sherman. A Confederate soldier 
gives this picture of affairs : 

''We had stacked our arms and gone into camp, and started to build 
fires to cook supper. I saw^ our cavalry falling back, I thought, rather 



222 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

hurriedly. I ran to tlie road and asked them what was tlie matter. They 
answered, ' Matter enough ; yonder are the Yankees. Are you infantry 
fellows ffoine: to make a stand here V I told Colonel Field what had been 
told to me and he hooted at the idea ; but balls that had shucks tied to 
their tails were passing over, and our regiment was in the rear of the 
whole army. I could hardly draw any one's attention to the fact that the 
cavalry had passed us, and that we were on the outpost of the whole army, 
when an order came for our regiment to. go forward as rapidly as possible, 
and occupy an octagon house in our immediate front. The Yankees were 
about a hundred yards from the house on one side, and we were about a 
hundred yards on the other. The race commenced as to which side would 
get to the house first. We reached it, and had barely gotten in when they 
were bursting down the paling of the yard on the opposite side. The 
house was a fine brick, octagon in shape, and as perfect a fort as could be 
desired. We ran to the windows, up-stairs and down-stairs, and in the 
cellar. The Yankees cheered and charged, and our lx)ys got happy. 
Colonel Field told us he had orders to hold it until every man was killed, 
and never to surrender the house. It was a forlorn-hope. 

"We felt we were 'gone fawn -skins' sure enough. At every dis- 
charge of our guns we would hear a Yankee squall. The boys raised a 

tune — 

"Tse gwine to jine the rebel band, 
A-fightiug for my home ' — 

as they loaded and shot their guns. Then the tune of — 

" ' Cheer, boys, cheer, we are marching on to battle I 

Cheer, boys, cheer, for our sweethearts and our wives ! 
Cheer, boys, cheer, we'll nobly do our duty, 
And give to the South our hearts, our arms, our lives.' 

" Our cartridges were almost gone, and Lieut. Joe Carney, Joe Sewell, 
and Billy Carr volunteered to go and bring a box of a thousand cartridges. 
They got out of the back window, and through that hail of iron and lead 
made their way back with the box of cartridges. Our ammunition being 
renewed, the fight raged on. Capt. Joe P. Lee touched me on the shoul- 
der and said, ' Sam, please let me have your gun for one shot.' He raised 
it to his shoulder and pulled down on a fine-dressed cavalry officer, and I 
saw that Yankee tumble. Lie handed it back to me to reload. About 
twelve o'clock, midnight, the One Ilnndred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee, 
commanded by Colonel McGevney, came to our relief. 

" The firing had ceased, and we abandoned the octagon house. Our 
dead and woimded were there — thirty of them — in strange contrast with 



5 ^ 

S a 

(6 H 



2^ ■'-« 



3 > 




MM 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 225 

tlie furniture of the house, fine chairs, sofas, settees, pianos, and Brussels 
carpeting being made the death-bed of brave and noble boys, all saturated 
with blood ; fine lace and damask curtains all blackened by the smoke of 
battle ; fine bureaus and looking-glasses and furniture being riddled by the 
rude missiles of war; beautiful pictures in gilt frames, and a library of val- 
uable books, all shot and torn by musket and cannon balls. Such is war."(°) 
It is twenty-five miles due south from Resaca to Kingston, where the 
railroad turns east toNvards the little village of Cassville, the place selected 
by Johnston where he would fight a great battle. His engineers reported 
to him that that was a very strong position. He issued an 

Mav 19, 1864. . ,. , . 

order to Ins army, informing his soldiers that he should re- 
treat no farther, and that they would have an opportunity to fight a deci- 
sive battle. The Union scouts obtained a copy of the order, which they 
brought to Sherman. General Thomas had been advancing, a portion of 
the Confederate troops contesting his way, but they fell back, and he 
finally discovered them drawn up in line of battle. It was on Sunday 
afternoon. May 19th, when he sent the information back to Sherman, who 
was delighted at the intelligence. " Come up on Thomas's right," was 
the order from Sherman to McPherson. Hooker and Schofield were on 
the left of Thomas, and advanced with him towards Cassville. Sherman 
rode forward to the front line, and beheld upon a swell of land a line of 
newly constructed earthworks. It would seem that General Sherman took 
pleasure in letting Johnston know^ that he was close at hand and ready to 
accept battle. It was almost night when he ordered two batteries into 
position to begin the cannonade. The battery was quite a distance from 
the Confederate lines, but the gunners elevated their pieces and the shot 
enfiladed the trenches. We shall presently see what came of this can- 
nonade. Through the night the Union troops were closing in and taking 
position. "Attack at daylight," was the order. The soldiers, as they sat 
'by their bivouac fires, said that there would be a battle unless the Confed- 
erates retreated, Johnston had retreated so many times that they feared 
he would not make a stand. 

The morning dawns, but not a Confederate soldier is to be seen at 
Cassville. Why has Johnston, with between sixty and seventy thousand 
men, so suddenly abandoned a strong position ? Why has 
'he exposed himself to be the laughing-stock of the army ? 
At sunset on the evening of the 19tli Hood was on the right, Polk in the 
centre, and Hardee on the left — the troops all in position, the artillery be- 
hind the breastworks — everything in readiness for the battle. No Union 
troops were in his rear. Sherman was making no movement to out-flank 
15 



226 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

him. He had issued his order for a battle, and yet in the morning he was 
niakinir haste towards Kenesaw Mountain. What was the meanino; of it? 

x\fter the Confederate troops were all in j^osition, Johnston, Hood, and 
Polk sat down to supper together in a house at Cassville. Johnston had 
nothing to eat, and was dining with Hood. "My troops are not in good 
position ; the enemy's cannon enfilade my line," said Hood. " They also 
enfilade my line, and I fear I shall not be able to hold my ground," said 
Polk.C") 

General Johnston was astonished and irritated, for he saw that it was a 
criticism upon his plan. General Hood was brave and energetic, but a 
restless ofiicer. He had found fault with Johnston for abandoning Resaca, 
and maintained that he should have fought a battle at that place. There 
was a long discussion. Johnston learned that Hood had a plan of his own 
that he wanted to carry out. Johnston believed in making a defensive 
fiirht — to stand behind his intrenchments and let Sherman make the at- 
tack. Hood, instead, wanted to take the offensive. He believed in giving 
blows instead of receiving them. He wanted to march with his own and 
part of Polk's corps and fall upon Schofield, who was five miles away from 
Thomas. He thought that he could defeat Schofield, drive him pell-mell 
to the rear, and then hasten back and get into position once more before 
Thomas could begin a battle. It is quite possible that Hood thought that 
he could repeat the tactics of Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville. He 
had ever been regarded by his fellow-officers as brave, but lacking in judg- 
ment. Johnston did not believe that any such strategy could succeed. 
He was irritated and angry. The newspapers of the South had been find- 
ing fault with him — had asked why he did not fight a battle. He knew 
that a portion of his officers had been criticising him also ; and now that 
he was ready to" fight, instead of hearty, unquestioning co-operation, Hood 
and Polk were opposing his plans. He accused them of having conferred 
together, of having lost heart, of being beaten before a battle had begun. 
At last he said : " I am not willing to engage in a critical battle with an 
army much larger than my own, with two of my corps commanders dis- 
satisfied with my plan, and unwilling to fight upon the ground which I 
have chosen, or in the position which I have assigned them."(") He 
rose from the table in anger, and issued orders for the army to retreat at 
once. Behind him a few miles was Etowah River, beyond which was 
the strong position of Allatoona. Beyond AUatoona M'as Kenesaw, equally 
strong. In both places he could stand on the defensive. Couriers went 
with the order, and the Confederate soldiers took up the line of march 
towards the Etowah. It is a stream easily forded, and in the morning 



FROM CHATTANOOGA TO ALLATOONA. 



22: 



they were passing tlirougli the Allatoona Hills, coming once more into 
position on the east bank of Piimpldn-vine Creek. Morning dawned, 
the Union army was ready to attack, but not a Confederate soldier was 
to be found at Cassville. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER VIII. 

') "Memoirs of Gen. ^Y. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p 11 

-) Idem., p. 22. 

= ) Gen. Richard Taylor, "Destruction and Reconstruction, 

") S. R. Watkins, "First Tennessee Regiment," p. 111. 

= ) "Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 34. 

^) S. R. "Watkins, "First Tennessee Regiment," p. 116. 

" ) Dr. Johnston to Author. 

*) "Memoirs of Gen. Wm. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 34. 

") S. R. Watkins, "First Tennessee Regiment," p. 129. 
'") "Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 40 
") Idem. 



p. 100. 



228 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



CHAPTER IX. 

NEW HOPE AND KEXESAW. 

T^"^HE army commanded by General Sherman had little baggage. It 

-■- could pack all its camp equipage in a few moments. The commander 

was quick in all his movements, and had the faculty of infusing his 

own energy into his subordinate officers. He detailed a body of men to 

build brido-es and repair the raih'oad. The Confederates, 

Mav 17,1864. --® ^ n ^ . -i,,.-. 

when tliey retreated from Kesaca, burned the bridge across 
the Oostenaula ; but in three days Colonel Wright, who had charge of the 
repairs of the railroad, had it rebuilt, and the cars running to Kingston, 
south of Resaca. Day and night the trains rolled into Kingston, and on 
the banks of the Etowah, on May 22d, rations for twenty days were issued, 
and the army once more took up its line of march. General Sherman had 
not been able to obtain any reliable maps of the country, and he organized 
an engineer corps, which soon had every road and stream platted and pho- 
tograplied and distributed to the officers. As fast as the army moved, 
additions were made and new maps issued. 

The Confederate army had retreated across the Etowah River, which 
rises in north-eastern Georgia, runs south, finds its way through the 
mountains and hills north of Allatoona, and flows on westward to Rome, 
where it is joined by the Oostenaula. Together they form the Coosa. It 
was a very strong position at Cassville from which Johnston had retreat- 
ed, but he had selected another much stronger at Allatoona. 

The raih-oad, after crossing the Etowah, runs south-east. At Allatoona 
tliere is a deep cut through a range of hills. Pumpkin-vine Creek rises 
amid the hills around the town of Dallas, twenty miles or more south-west 
of Allatoona, runs north, then north-west to the Etowah. 

When General Sherman was a young man, in 1844, he rode over the 
country between Atlanta and Chattanooga. He was quick to see things. 
Through all the years he remembered the topography of the region. (') 
He thought that Johnston would be likely to select Allatoona for a defen- 
sive position, and he had no intention of advancing against it. If he 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 231 

could turn Johnston's flank, Allatoona would be of no value to the Con- 
federates. 

Were we to stand on the hill near Allatoona and look south, we should 
see Pine Mountain, rising so beautifully and conspicuously that it is a 
landmark for a wide reach of country. Beyond it in the south-west is 
Lost Mountain standing by itself. Another beautiful mountain, Kenesaw, 
rises higher than either of these, from the top of which we can look 
many miles in all directions. It is eighteen miles from Allatoona. The 
town of Marietta, with its public square and shaded streets, is only three 
miles south of Kenesaw. This section of country was to be the second 
great battle-ground of the campaign. Going now south-west from Alla- 
toona to Dallas, we lind that Pumpkin-vine Creek winds through a nar- 
row valley with steep banks. North -east of Dallas four miles is New 
Hope Church, where a branch of the Pumpkin-vine comes in from the 
south. Three miles farther on towards the north-east, upon a small stream 
emptying into Pumpkin-vine, is Mr. Pickett's mill. Keeping these points 
in mind, we shall see how Sherman laid his plans, and how Johnston met 
his advance. A general invading the country of an enemy must take long 
looks ahead. General Sherman, on the banks of the Etowah, spread out 
his map and studied through the night the roads along which the troops 
were to move. After issuing his orders, he leaned against a tree and 
dropped off to sleep, undisturbed by the tramping of the columns of sol- 
diers moving past, until a soldier seeing him, said, "A pretty way we are 
commanded." The commander of the army heard it, and said, "My man, 
while you were asleep I was making my plans, and now I am taking a 
little nap." (') 

Sherman is on the Etowah Piver, about eighteen miles north of Dallas. 
The troops crossed the river and marched south, the Army of the Ten- 
nessee, under McPherson, away out on the right, moving towards the 
town of Van AVert, north-west of Dallas. The Army of the Cumberland, 
under Tliomas, with the Twentieth Corps, under Hooker, in advance, took 
the road leading to Burnt Hickory. Schofield, with the Army of the 
Ohio, was still farther east. 

Johnston quickl}^ discovered Sherman's movement. Between Yan Wert 

and Dallas the cavalry under General McCook captured a Confederate 

cavalryman who Avas carryino- a despatch from Johnston 

Mav 25 1864 ./ o i. 

to General Jackson, commanding the Confederate cavalry 
around Dallas, informing him that Sherman was marching in that direc- 
tion. McCook sent the despatch to Sherman, who had ordered Hooker 
and Thomas to go slow, that McPherson, who had much farther to march. 



232 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

might reach Dallas before he came in collision with the enemy. McCook 
pushed on to see if the Confederates were advancing to head off the move- 
ment. It was three in the afternoon of May 25th when McCook reached 
Pumpkin-vine Creek, near Owen's mill. Confederate cavalry held the 
bridge, which was in flames, but McCook put out the fire. Geary's 
division of Hooker's corps followed the retreating Confederates towards 
New Hope Church. The Seventh Ohio was deployed as skirmishers, and 
came suddenly upon the Tliirty-second and Fifty-eighth Alabama and a 
battalion of sharp-shooters, the whole under Colonel Jones, of Hood's corps. 
" Make all the noise and resistance possible," was Hood's order to 
Jones. (^) The Confederate army was on the march from Allatoona tow- 
ards New Hope, but was not yet in position. Geary deployed Candy's 
brigade, and drove Jones back upon the other Confederate troops of Gen- 
eral Stewart's division. 

General Sherman heard the firing, hastened down to see what was 
going on, and directed Hooker to bring up his other divisions. It was 
five o'clock wdien Williams's division came into the fight on Geary's right, 
and still later when Butterfield arrived. Hood's troops were on a ridge 
covered with thick woods. A storm w^as rising at the moment in the w^est, 
the lightning flashing and thunder rolling. Up the slope rushed the men 
of the Twentieth Corps, to be cut down by the hot fire of Hood's men 
behind their breastworks. It was a gallant but fruitless attack, Hooker 
losing many men. Hood very few. Night settled over the scene. 

General Howard, commanding the Fourth Corps, under Sherman, says: 
" Again and again Hooker's brave men went forward through the forest 
only to run upon log barricades," which were so thoroughly manned by the 
enemy, and so well protected by well-posted artillery, that to take them 
under a galling' fire was impossible. This meant for Hooker a succession 
of bloody repulses." (') 

This General Johnston's description: "A little before six o'clock in 
the afternoon, Stewart's division, in front of New Hope Church, was 
fiercely attacked by Hooker's corps, and the action continued two hours 
w'ithout lull or pause, when the assailants fell back. Tiie canister-shot of 
the sixteen Confederate pieces and five thousand infantry at short range 
must have inflicted heavy loss upon Hooker's corps." (') 

General Sherman knew, on the evening of the day of the first battle at 

New Hope, that the whole of Johnston's army, except a small force left at 

Allatoona, was marching rapidly towards that point. (°) We 

May 26, 1864. iii-i cii i 

can see alter a battle has been louglit how the movements 
might have been made in other directions, and possibly with better re- 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 



235 



suits. General Sherman's main object was to eriisli Johnston's arin}^ and 
he had made the movement to New Hope to compel Johnston to give up 
the fortified position at Allatoona. He could not venture very far from 
the railroad, by which he must receive his supplies. He had cut loose 
from it in order to turn Johnston's flank, but must soon return to it. If 
Sherman, on the evening of the 25th, had issued an order for the army to 
turn north-east and make a rapid march through the night, while Johnston 
was marching south-west, the morning of the 26tli would have seen Scho- 
field and Tliomas on the rio-ht flank of Johnston. Getting; between him 
and the railroad, in the direction of Ackworth, McPherson would have 
been close at hand. The movement would have compelled Johnston either 
to attack Sherman on ground of Sherman's choosing, or hasten to secure 
the lines in front of Kenesaw. At sunset Schofield was only six miles 




ACKWORTH STATION. 

From a Sketch made May, 1S64. 



distant, Thomas nine miles, and McPherson's advance only twelve miles 
from the nearest point on the railroad, three miles south of Allatoona. 
At the same time Hood and Polk were twelve miles and Hardee ten miles 
south-west of Ackwortli, the nearest point. 

Instead of such a movement, tlie Union troops moved on towards 
Pumpkin-vine, the Fourth Corps under Howard coming in upon Hook- 
er's left, while Davis's and Palmer's divisions of the Fourteenth came upon 



236 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Hooter's right. McPlierson marched through Dallas, the Sixteenth Cor])s 
under Dodire continuino; the line to the left of Davis, and the Fifteenth 
under Logan reaching still farther to the south, with the cavalry under 
Garrard covering the flank. Schofield, with the Army of the OJiio, was 
marching towards Owen's mill, to come in on the left of Howard. Stone- 
uian's division of cavalry was covering the left flank of the army. 

At dayhreak Sherman was sitting on the log beside which he had slept, 
drawing a map. The army, after a night's march in the rain, was in posi- 
tion, the troops at work building intrenchments. (') The 
artillery on both sides opened fire, and the pickets began a 
fusillade, which was to go on almost without cessation for several days. 
McPherson was confronted by Hardee, and the lines were so close that not 
an officer or soldier could show his head without a rattling fire along the 
line. A skilful general never will attack a strong position in front if he 
can get round it. Sherman had made his intrenchments so strong that 
he could hold them with a portion of his troops, while he made the at- 
tempt to gain Johnston's right flank with the remainder. He withdrew 
"Wood's division of Howard's corps, Johnson's of Palmer's, and McLean's 
brigade of Schofield's, and moved them north-east towards Pickett's mill, 
which is on a branch of Pumpkin-vine Creek. 

The movement was through thick woods. General Howard thought 
that he had gone far enough to gain the flank of the Confederates, and 
turned south. What he supposed to be the right flank of the Confed- 
erate line was an angle instead. It was a costly mistake. Hazen's and 
Scribner's brigades led the attack, to find cannon flaming in their faces 
and musketry cutting them down. 

The Confederates had seen the movement. " Howard's corps is on 
my right. I have extended my own lines as far as I can, and need rein- 
forcements," was the message sent by Hood to Johnston. Cleburne's 
division was placed under Hood to act as he should order. Cleburne was 
directed to form his troops in a column of brigades in the rear of Hind- 
man's division. The Union cavalry scouts had seen wdiat they thought 
was the extreme right of the Confederate line, but they had not seen the 
column of brigades standing behind Hindman. It was this that had de- 
ceived Howard, who suddenly found himself confronted by Cleburne on 
ground which the cavalry had reported as all clear. When Howard faced 
south and marched to strike Hindman, Cleburne quickly changed front, 
and stood a solid wall of men, with batteries in an advantageous position. 

It was five o'clock in the afternoon when the battle began. General 
Hazen led Howard's advance, driving the Confederate skirmishers into 







Ill iiiiiiii 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 239 

their intrenchments. Johnson's division was on tlie left of Ilazen, and 
swept round by Pickett's mill. Scribner's brigade had the advance in 
Johnson's division. It was on the east bank of the little stream, when 
a volley was jDonred down npon the brigade. Scribner halted, changed 
front, crossed the stream, and returned the fire. General Wood was still 
farther on the left, and also received a terrific volley with a storm of 
shell. Through a mistake, McLean's brigade did not come up on Wood's 
flank to protect it, and Wood was obliged to fall back. 

From five o'clock till after dark the battle went on. The artillery all 
alono; the lines on both sides sent their missiles into the intrenchments. 
Newton and Stanley, of Howard's corps, made a feint of advancing. Out 
on the left, Cox's and Hascall's divisions of Schofield's corps swung 
south against the Confederate cavalry under Wheeler, which fought as 
infantry. The Confederate commander, General Johnston, says of the at- 
tack : " The enemy came on in deep order and assailed the Texans with 
great vigor, receiving their close and accurate fire with great fortitude, 
such as is always exhibited by General Sherman's troops in the actions 
of this campaign. The contest with Granberry was a very fierce one. 
The enemy left hundreds of corpses within twenty paces of the Confed- 
erate lines." (**) 

Till past ten o'clock the battle went on, Howard falling back under a 
charge of the Confederates a short distance, but holding a position much 
in advance of the ground of the morning. There had been a loss of fully 
fifteen hundred men. The attack was not well planned. The troops were 
massed in brigades, one behind another, in thick woods, which was a mis- 
take, as Howard, Sherman, and ever}^ other officer soon discovered. The 
rear lines, under such a formation in the woods, could take no part in the 
fight without firing upon those in the front line. 

The engagement is known as the battle of Pickett's Mill. Lieutenant- 
general Johnston has given this record of the bravery of the Union troops 
wdiich fought Granberry's brigade of Texans: "When the United States 
troops paused in their advance within fifteen paces of the Texan front 
rank, one of their color-bearers planted his colors eight or ten feet in front 
of his regiment and was instantly shot dead ; a soldier sprang forward to 
his place, and fell also as he grasped the color-staff ; a second and third 
followed successively, and each received his death as speedily as his prede- 
cessors ; a fourth, however, seized and bore back the object of soldierly 
devotion." C) 

General Bate held the left of the Confederate army, and was directed to 
ascertain by a forced reconnoissance whether or not the Union troops were 



240 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

still beliind their intrenchments. The Confederates advanced upon Lo- 
gan's corps. Harrow's division held the right, Morgan L. Smith's the 
centre, and Osterhaus's the left. Smith was on the road leading from 
Dallas to Marietta. Three of the cannon of the First Iowa Battery were 
on the skirmish line in an advantageous position. The Union skirmishers 
saw Bate's division of Confederates appear on the crest of the ridge, and 
then descend the slope, advancing rapidly. The three guns opened upon 
them ; the rattle of the skirmishers' muskets began. Men dropped in the 
Confederate ranks, but the lines moved on. No Union infantry had been 
sent forward to support the three guns. In a twinkling, almost, the Con- 
federates were laying hold of the cannon, but could not use them, for the 
artillerjMuen carried off the rammers in their retreat. 

The Confederates gave a cheer and charged upon Walcott's brigade of 
Harrow's division. Instantly a line of light streamed from the Union in- 
trenchments, and the Confederate line melted like lead in a crucible. On 
came the other divisions of Hardee's corps, attacking with great spirit. 
General Logan rode along the lines, weaving his hat and encouraging the 
men, who responded with a cheer. For a time the battle raged fiercely, 
but the Confederates were repulsed with heavy loss. It has been called 
the battle of Dallas. 

The cannon on both sides were thundering, and the muskets of the 

pickets flashing, but no attempt was made on either side to flank or charge 

the other. The lines were so near that no soldier could lift 

May 29 1864 

" his head above the breastwork M'ithout being fired upon. 
AVhen night came, and darkness settled over the scene, the men rose from 
the ground and cooked their supper. Suddenly all the Confederate bat- 
teries oj)ened, and the landscape was illumined by the cannon -flashes. 
Sherman's cannon replied, and for two hours the thunder of the cannon- 
ade rolled over hill and dale, forest and field, sending its reverberation far 
away to Lost Mountain and Kenesaw. The fire was so terrific, and such 
a storm of shot and shell was hurled from the LTnion and Confederate 
guns, that the soldiers changed the name of New Hope to Hell Hole. 

On the afternoon of May 30th General Sherman, General Logan, Gen- 
eral McPherson, General Barry, and Colonel Taylor were standing togeth- 
er, when a minie-bullet passed through the sleeve of Logan's 
coat, and struck Colonel Taylor in the breast, who fell, not 
killed, but disabled from further service. 

General Sherman's supplies were running short. The time had come 
for a new movement which should bring the army nearer to the railroad. 
The cavalry under General Stoneman had already seized Allatoona, and 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW, 



2U 




FROM RESACA TO KENESAW. 



June 7, 1864. 



Sherman could reach the raih-oad at Ack worth. Johnston saw that he 
would be powerless to stop such a movement and that he must fall back to 
a new position. During the night of June 3d the Confed- 
erates filed out from their strong intrenchments and took up 
their line of march towards tlie works already thrown up by gangs of 
slaves at Lost Mountain and northward of Kenesaw. With great bravery 
they had held the lines at New Hope, which was no longer a new hope 
to them ; for thousands in the Confederate ranks were beginning to see 
that theirs was a hopeless cause, and were asking why such a sacrifice of 
life, for what were they fighting? Some of them with clearing vision 
saw that in reality they were not fighting for any great principle of right, 
but for the perpetuation of slavery, and they cursed those who began the 
war. Every day there were desertions from the Confederate ranks, those 
on picket throwing down their guns and entering the Union lines. 

The month of May had been delightful, but rain began to fall. The 
soldiers of General Sherman and the Confederate army alike suffered. 
The roads were almost impassable. Reinforcements came to the Union 
army — two divisions of the Seventeenth Corps, under General Blair. 



244: KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Tlieir arrival made good the losses, so that the army still numbered near- 
ly one hundred thousand. A portion of the Union troops were at Big 
Shanty. Lookinsj south, they could see the Confederate siff- 

June 1, 18G4. "^ . ^ ^. •, 4; t f "P- IT- 

nal-nags waving on the summits 01 Lost, rine, and Kenesaw 
mountains, and long lines of intrenchments. Tiie officers, with their 
glasses, could see cannon in position. The intrenchments thrown np by 
the slave gangs were ten miles in length, extending east to the railroad, 
and west to the carriage road leading from Marietta to New Hope. 

General Sherman was advancing, with McPherson on the railroad, 
Thomas west of it, and Scholield beyond Thomas, moving towards Lost 
Mountain. Colonel Wright Was so energetic in building bridges and re- 
pairing the railroad that he soon had a train of cars rumbling into Big 
Shanty, and the engineer, uncoupling the engine, ran down the road to 
a water-tank near the skirmish line. The Confederate artillery on Kene- 
saw opened fire with their long-range rifled guns, and the shot and shell 
came crashing through the trees and around the locomotive ; but the engi- 
neer kept on filling the tank, then tooted his whistle, and went back to 
Big Shanty, the soldiers waving their hats and cheering hiui. 

General Sherman was standing with General Howard in front of Pine 
Mountain, reconnoitring the Confederate lines to see where he could best 
attack them. He noticed a battery on the crest of the 
' " mountain, and a line of intrenchments, and a group of offi- 
cers around the guns, looking through their glasses. 

" Open fire upon them with one of your batteries, and make them 
keep under cover,'' he said to General Howard. 

" General Thomas wishes me to be sparing of my artillery ammuni- 
tion," Avas the reply. 

" That, as a general rule, is all right, but I wish to keep up a vigorous 
offensive. By using your artillery you will make the enemy timid. Let 
one of your batteries give three volleys." ('") 

General Sherman knew that six cannon sending that number of shells 
at once into the group, and twice repeated, would be far more effective 
than if the cannon were fired separately. The gunners of Simonson's In- 
diana Battery loaded their cannon. The Confederate officers were Gen- 
eral Johnston, General Hardee, and General Polk, with their staffs. Gen- 
eral Bate's division of Hardee's corps held the intrenchments, and the 
soldiers gathered around their generals with the freedom characteristic of 
the Southern soldiers. It was a large group, and to Simonson's gunners 
seemed like tlie clustering of bees upon the side of a hive on a midsum- 
mer day. They calculated the distance, and elevated the muzzles of the 




iiil 






NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 



247 



guns to send the shells into the group. General Johnston was looking 
through his glass, and could see the gunners preparing to open fire. 

" Go to your positions. They are getting ready to fire !" he exclaimed, 
and himself hastened behind the intrenchments. 

General Polk was very dignified. He came from a family which 
prided itself on its dignity. His brother was President of the United 
States from 1845 to 1849. When the war began he was a bishop in the 
Episcopal Church and wore his robes with much dignity. He was stout 
in person and walked slowly, and never had been known to hurry. Gen- 
eral Bragg found fault with him at Chickamauga because he was slow in 
getting into action. He was brave, and had been in many battles where 
the bullets were singing around him. He walked slowly towards the 
breastwoi'ks. Possibly he wished to let the soldiers see that he was in no 
hurry. Simonson's six guns all flashed at the same instant. The shells 
screamed throuo-h the air and tore across the Confederate earthworks. 




^^^^ 



"WHERE GENERAL POLK FELL. 
From a Sketch made iu 18G4. 



General Polk did not hasten ; he partially turned, as if to see where they 
came from. Again the cannon flashed, and a shell struck him in the 
breast. A moment before he was in the vigor of life ; now the soldiers 
beheld a mangled body, his life-blood crimsoning the yellow earth. He 
had been educated at West Point Military Academy by the United States, 
but at the outset of the Eebellion had laid aside the robes of his high call- 
ing, left the service of the Church, accepted a commission from Jefferson 
Davis as major-general, had been a believer in the doctrine that the rights 
of a State are superior to those of the nation, yet he invaded Kentucky 



248 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

and seized Columbus, thus violating the theory of State rights. He did 
it without orders from the President of the Confederacy, who afterwards 
sent this telegram : " The necessity justifies the action." He had done 
what he could for the establishment of a government based on slavery, but 
his work was ended. A Union signal-officer on the roof of a shed shelter- 
ing a cotton-o-in, and watchino; the wavincj of the Confederate sio;nal-flao;s, 
who had studied them till he had discovered the key, read the despatch 
waved to Marietta, " Send an ambulance for the body of General Polk." 
A Confederate soldier wrote this about him : " He was looking through his 
field-glass when a shot struck him in his left breast, passing through his 
body and his heart. I saw him while the infirmary corps were bringing 
him from the field. He was as white as a piece of marble. Every private 
soldier loved him. Second to Stonewall Jackson, Jiis loss was the greatest 
the South ever sustained." (") 

On the morning of the 15th General Sherman was ready to attack 
Pine Mountain, but Avhen daylight came the Confederates had disap- 
peared. Johnston saw that liis lines were too long, that they could be 
easily flanked. Sherman's troops pushed on and captured many prisoners 
— those who had been asleep and did not know that the army had gone. 
Johnston also concluded to give up Lost Mountain and make Kenesaw his 
line. Sherman pushed on. He organized a brigade of shovellers, employ- 
ing the negroes who flocked into liis camp, setting them to building in- 
trenchments, thus relieving the soldiers. The negroes were paid ten 
dollars a month and their rations. 

We are to keep in mind the fact that tlie war was a conflict between 
two systems of labor. We have the spectacle of General Johnston em- 
ploying gangs of slaves, impressed into service from their owners to build 
his intrenchments. He was careful to keep them beyond the range of the 
Union guns, because they were property, and valuable to their owners ; 
and the other spectacle of negroes, who a few weeks before had been 
slaves, earning wages under the Stars and Stripes. 

The springs which ooze from the ground at the northern end of Ken- 
esaw form Noonday Creek, which runs north to the Etowah Kiver, while 
those which bubble up at the southern end of the mountain form Noses 
Creek, which flows south to the Chattahoochee. The banks of Noonday 
Creek are covered with thick woods. Tlie Confederate cavalry under 
General Wheeler held the east bank, while General Garrard, with a divis- 
ion of Union cavalry, occupied the west bank. Garrard kept a sharp look- 
out, expecting that Wlieeler would march north-east, and come round upon 
Cassville and destrov the railroad. Sherman had a force at Resaca which 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 



251 



he brought down to that point, and also a brigade under Gen. John E. 
Smith from liuntsville, Ahibaraa. 

If Johnston tliought of making such a movement it was not attempted. 
The Confederate line extended from Noonday Creek across the raih^oad, 
over tlie top of Kenesaw, over the rugged hill south of Kenesaw, then 
along the east bank of Noses Creek to the road which leads from Mai-ietta 




UNION SIGNAL-STATION ON PINE MOUNTAIN LOOKING TOWARDS KENESAW. 



to Powder Springs. It was twelve miles long. Next to Dalton, it %vas the 
strongest position of the campaign. Along the entire line there were 
breastworks which had been thrown up by the slaves. At the foot of 
Kenesaw there was a line of rifle-pits; half-way up, a strong line of in- 
trencliments, with a third line on top. The artillery would sweep every 
part of the ground. General Loring was appointed to the command of 



252 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

Polk's corps, whicli held Kenesaw, from the top of which the Confederate 
soldiers could overlook all the surrounding country and detect Sherman's 
movements. General Johnston could spread out his map on the top of 
the mountain, and, by noticing the smoke rising here and there, locate the 
exact positions of tlie divisions of the Union army. 

French's division of Loring's corps held the south-western side of the 
mountain; Walthal's the summit and north-eastern slope down to the 
railroad ; Hood was east of the railroad, on the hill overlooking IS^oonday 
Creek ; Hardee held the line west of Marietta, along Noses Creek ; Walk- 
er's division joined French's ; then came Bate's, Cleburne's, and Cheat- 
ham's. In the last retreat Johnston swung his left flank back eight miles, 
while Hood had fallen back only two. The line was thus in the form of. 
a semicircle. 

From the 1st to the 19th of June it had rained every day. Noonday 
and Noses creeks were torrents, overflowing their banks and covering the 
lowlands. Tlie roads, cut up by the wheels of Johnston's 
wagons, were impassable. Sherman was obliged to make new 
ones. McPherson moved along the railroad with the Seventeenth Corps, 
under Blair, on the extreme left, next to Garrard's cavalry ; then came the 
Fourteenth Corps, under Logan ; then the Sixteenth Corps, under Dodge. 
The Army of the Cumberland fronted Kenesaw, the Fourteenth Corps, 
under Palmer, holding the left against the south-western slope ; then the 
Fourth Corps, under Howard, whose centre was on the road leading from 
Gilgal Cliurch to Marietta. When Schofield reached Noses Creek his 
skirmishers found the meadow overflowed. The Confederates had taken 
the planks from the bridge, and the water was sweeping over the stringers. 
On the hill east of the stream was a battery, while along the bushes lay 
the Confederate sharp-shooters. 

General Schofield placed a battery on a knoll, and opened fire. Gen- 
eral Cameron's brigade of Schofield's corps advanced, and the One Hun- 
dred and Third Ohio dashed through the water, crossed the creek on the 
stringers, and rushed up the bank, diiving the Confederate skirmishers. 
The Confederate battery limbered up and retreated to the higher ground 
in the rear. A few minutes later Cameron's brigade and Cox's whole 
division were across the creek. From the top of Kenesaw Johnston could 
see that Schofield and the Twentieth Corps, under Hooker, were threaten- 
ing to turn his left flank towards Marietta. He resolved to make a bold 
movement. Hood was east of Kenesaw ; he would transfer him from the 
extreme right to the extreme left, and strike Schofield a sudden blow. 
Night came. Hood left his intrenchments, marched south-west through 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 253 

the town of Marietta, goino^ out past the Georgia Military Institute and 
Zion Church. General Loritig strung out liis men along the earthworks 
which Hood had evacuated. General Wheeler was instructed to make as 
much noise as he could in front of McPherson. At daylight Hood was 
at Zion Church, north-east of Mr. Gulp's farm. Hindman's and Steven- 
son's divisions were in the front line, with Stewart's in support. The 
men were weary with the night's march, and it was mid-afternoon before 
Johnston was i-eady to strike the blow which he fondly lioped would crush 
Schofield and Hooker. 

While Hood was making his march Schofield had been changing his 
position, HascalTs division coming into position on Hooker's right on Gulp's 
farm, with Cox's division at the forks of the road near Mr. Cheney's 
house, two miles farther south. Going north from Schofield, w^e see Will- 
iams's division of Hooker's corps joining Hascall ; then Geary's, with But- 
terfield's in support. Hooker's pickets captured a prisoner. 

" Whose corps do you belong to ?'' 

" Hood's." 

This was important news, for at sunset Hood was east of Kenesaw. 

"Hood is getting ready to attack you," said the prisoner. 

" Deploy your divisions, and throw up intrenchments," was the order 
of Hooker. 

The men threw down their muskets and went to work with shovels 
and axes, cutting doM-n trees and piling logs. It was a little after three 
o'clock "when a line of gleaming bayonets was seen in the fields and pastures 
on both sides of the road w^est of Zion Church. 

The Confederates advanced rapidly, striking Geary and Williams. In- 
stantly the Thirteenth New York Battery, Captain Winegar, and Captain 
Woodbury's battery of 12-pounders, opened fire. The shells made sad havoc 
in their ranks, but the Confederates pushed bravely on. A little nearer, 
and the line of partly finished breastworks was a sheet of flame. Hood's 
left came against Hascall, who had sent out the Fourteenth Kentucky as 
skirmishers. Their fire was so deadly that the next morning sixty Con- 
federate dead were found lying where they delivered their volleys. Colonel 
Galloup, the commander of the regiment, held the ground stubbornly, 
but fell back under orders to the intrenchments that the artillery might 
begin firing. The Nineteenth Ohio and Sixth Michigan batteries used 
canister, and the slaughter of the Confederates was terrible. It was a brave- 
ly executed but ill-judged attack. No one will ever know how many 
were killed and wounded. General Johnston admitted that more than one 
.thousand fell in the few minutes of the struggle. The Union loss was less 



254 EEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

than three hundred. Instead of criisliing Hooker and Schofield, Hood fell 
back towards Zion Church with his lines in disorder. To cover the attack 
Johnston ordered the artillery to open all along the line, and so for the en- 
tire distance of twelve miles the cannon of both armies were thundering. 

We come to June 26th. The two armies were behind strong intrench- 
ments. What should General Sherman do ? The mud was so deep that 
he could not make any flanking movement, nor had he suffi- 
cient supplies to do so. The troops farthest from the rail- 
road had scant rations. He came to the conclusion that if a bold attack 
were to be made along the entire line, a weak place might be found 
where he could break tlirough. He resolved to make the attempt. 

During the night, the troops were placed in position, but^as soon as 
day dawns, June 27th, the Confederates on Kenesaw could see what changes 
had been made in the Union lines. There was no long wait- 
' ' ing. The Union artillery began tlie battle by sending a 
storm of missiles into the Confederate lines ; Johnston's guns responded, and 
such a racket never before was heard along tlie hills of Kenesaw. As day- 
light streamed up the east. Cox's division, south-west of Marietta, advanced. 
Reilly's and Cameron's brigades made a vigorous attack, drove the Confed- 
erates, and secured an advantageous position on the ridge east of Olley's 
Creek, which runs south-west of, and j^arallel with, l^ickajack Creek. It 
was a great gain. From that position the artillery could send shells across 
Nickajack Creek almost into Marietta. 

While Cox's division was advancing, the battle opened all along the line. 
McPherson's artillery was directing its lire against Kenesaw. Howard's and 
Palmer's corps of the Army of the Cumberland moved together. A terri- 
bly destructive fire burst upon them. The soldiers reached the abatis in 
front of the Confederate lines. They were amid fallen trees ; they came 
upon a line of sharpened stakes. They could go no farther, but lay down, 
many of them never to rise again. The advantage was all on the side 
of the Confederates. But through the day the Union troops remained 
there, keeping up a steady lire. When night came they went to work M'ith 
shovels, and threw up intrenchments, holding the ground gained by such 
a fearful sacrifice of life. Smith's division crossed Xoses Creek, and ad- 
vanced against the rocky sides of the hill, which the soldiers called Little 
Kenesaw. The Fifteenth Corps, under Logan, attacked Featherstone's 
division of Loring's corjDS. The Confederate sharp-shooters killed and 
wounded in Logan's corps seven officers commanding regiments. One of 
them (Colonel Bnnhill, of the Fortieth Illinois) was within a few feet of 
the intrenchments when he fell. 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 



257 



General Palmer's corps almost j)ierced the Confederate line, but Gen- 
eral Cheatham, seeing the danger, hurried up a brigade in reserve, and 
forced back the Union troops. General Sherman had selected three points 
where he thought it possible to break through. The Confederates could 
see just where he was massing his troops, and could hurry their soldiers 
from one point to another to resist him. No advantage was gained bj the 
attempt other than on the right by Olley's Creek. Night beheld the two 
armies behind stronsf breastworks. But it was a sickenino; scene where 
the ambulance corps were gathering up the wounded, their torches and lan- 
terns casting a lurid light upon the trees, green with midsummer foliage, 
and the bleeding forms beneath. It is the scene after a battle that dispels 








MAIUETTA, 1864. 
From a Sketch made at the time. 



the illusion of the pomp and glory of war. After such a sacrifice of life 
the soldiers asked the question, " What is all this for ?" They knew that it 
was not for glory ; not that they wanted to fight ; not that they had any 
hatred towards their opponents ; but that this government of the people 
should not be destroyed, and a government based on slavery set up on its 
ruins. 

It would have been far better if General Sherman had not ordered the 

assault. The Confederate army was in a very strong position, and was 

larger than at the beginning of the campaign. The returns for June lOtli 

show that there were 71,000 Confederate officers and men present for 

17 



258 REDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

duty, and that there were 187 cannon. ('') At the battle of New Hope the 
Confederate army numbered 75,000; the Union arniy, 93,600. ('^) By 
flanking movements General Sherman had compelled General Johnston to 
give up Dalton, Resaca, and the line of Pumpkin-vine Creek ; a movement 
southward of Kenesaw would have compelled Johnston to retire from the 
strong position from which he could not be dislodged by direct assault. 

Gangs of slaves, and ten thousand old men and boys who had been 
ordered into service by Governor Brown of Georgia, were hard at work 
throwing up intrenchments at Smyrna, six miles south of Marietta. ('*) 
Anotlier party was building fortitications along the Chattahoochee River, 
while down by Atlanta a third gang was building forts and a line of forti- 
fications around that city, where there were rolling-mills, machine-shops, 
and a great supply of military stores. General Johnston knew that al- 
though the direct assault of Sherman had failed, the position which Gen- 
eral Schofield had secured south-west of Marietta would enable the Union 
army to reach the railroad soutli of that place, and tjiat sooner or later 
he must give up Kenesaw. 

Schofield's pickets during the night could hear trains rumbling south- 
ward, and came to the conclusion tliat Johnston was getting ready to 
abandon his strong position. General Sherman, however, 

June 28, 1864. ^ ' r AT i i • 

could not move without supphes. JN early every day rain 
had fallen ; wagons could hardly move. Day and night trains came to Big 
Shanty bringing supplies ; but before they were received and distributed, 
the Confederate troops, under cover of the night, filed down from Kene- 
saw, and abandoned Marietta. 

The Union pickets, as day dawned, looking towards the line of Con- 
federate works, saw that they were deserted. Swiftly the word ran along 

the lines. General Sherman ordered General Garrard, coin- 

July 3, 1864. ... , , . . . 

nianding a division of cavalry, to make swiit pursuit, and 
many stragglers from Johnston's army were picked up. With bands play- 
ing, drums beating, and colors waving in the morning breeze, the army 
entered Marietta, marching through the public square. It was one of the 
most beautiful towns in Georgia, pleasantly situated, with many elegant 
residences. Before the war, on market-days, a great crowd of teams loaded 
with cotton were to be seen in the spacious streets. When the thunder of 
the cannonade at New Hope and Dallas reverberated over hill and vale, 
the people, by riding to the top of Kenesaw and looking westward, could 
see the battle-clouds rising above the dark-green woodlands, and some of 
them, fearing what might happen — that the Union army might reach 
Marietta — packed up what goods they could, and hastened to Atlanta. 



NEW HOPE AND KENESAW. 



259 



When the terrible conflict raged around Kenesaw, when sliot and shell 
from the Union cannon aimed at the Confederate batteries on the top of 
the mountain began to fall in the streets, there was a hurrying of men, 
women, and children away to the country. Little had the people of the 
South imagined, in 1861, when they advocated the secession of the State, 
when they welcomed the formation of the Confederacy, that the sound of 
Union cannon would ever echo from Kenesaw, as on the morning of July 
4th — anniversary of the Independence of the United States ; that a victo- 
rious army would be marching through Marietta. To the people of that 
town, flying from their homes, it was a sad and mournful day. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER IX. 

" Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 42. 

Gen. O. O. Howard, Century Marjazim, July, 1887. 

Gen. J. B. Hood's Report. 

Gen. O. O. Howard, Century Magazine, July, 1887. 

Gen. J. E. Joluislon, Century Magazine, August, 1887. 

" Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 44. 

Idem. 

Gen. J. E. Johnston, " JSTarrative of Military Events," p. 330. 

Idem. 

" JVIemoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 53. 

S. R. Watkins, "First Tennessee Regiment," p. 138. 

E. C. Dawes, Century Magazine, December, 1887. 

Idem. 

Gen. J. E. Johnston, " Narrative of Military Events," pp. 345-347. 



260 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 

VERY beautiful is the valley of the Shenaudoali, with its green fields, 
rich pastures, and verdant woodlands, bounded by the Blue Ridge 
on the east and a succession of mountain ranges on the west. The fertile 
fai'nis yield luxuriant harvests of wheat and corn. Millwheels plash in 
the silver streams ffurglino; down from the mountains. In no section of 

o o o 

the South was there before the war more comfort and prosperity than 
in this peaceful valle}'. 

From its topographical features it became, in a military point of view, 
a region of great importance alike to Union and Confederate command- 
ers. From Winchester, the most important town, General Johnston had 
marched across the Blue Ridge, in 1861, to join Beauregard upon the 
field of Bull Run, and win the first great battle of the war. 

In 1862 Stonewall Jackson had compelled General Banks to make a 
hasty retreat to Harper's Ferry. After Antietam, General Lee retreated 
to the Rapidan, behind its sheltering mountain walls. In advancing to 
Gettysburg his troops marched over its macadamized roads, screened from 
the observation of Union scouts by the Blue Ridge, with its passes held 
by the Confederate cavalry. His retreat was over the same highways. 
Union and Confederate armies in succession, like the ebbing and flowing 
of the tides of the ocean in an estuary, had swept through the valley, each 
lielping themselves to wheat and corn fi'om the granaries of the people. 
When General Grant assumed command of all the armies he found Gen- 
eral Sigel in command of the Department of West Virginia, whose head- 
quarters were near Winchester. A portion of the troops in the depart- 
ment were in the valley of the Kanawha, commanded by General Crook. 
General Grant, while advancing with the Army of the Potomac against 
General Lee, with Butler menacing Richmond from the south, directed 
Sigel to advance up the Shenandoah and threaten the Virginia Central 
Railroad at Staunton, while Crook was to destroy the East Tennessee Rail- 
road, also the salt-works at the town of Saltville, where great kettles had 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 



261 



been placed, and wliicli were bubbling and steaming nigbt and day to fur- 
nish salt for the curing of meat for the Confederate armies. 

General Averill, with two thousand cavalry, started from Charleston, 
West Virginia. His line of march was to be over mountain ranges, and 
through narrow valleys, along winding roads., He had no 
cannon and very few wagons. After five days' marching he 
learned that there was a Confederate force with several cannon at Salt- 
ville, and he decided not to attempt its capture, but to march to Wythe- 
ville, where there were lead-works. When he reached that town he found 
that the Confederates, learning of his movement, had been whirled over 



Mny ],1864. 




DESTROYING THE EAST TENNESSEE RAILROAD BRIDGE. 



the railroad from Saltville, and outnumbered him. Instead of attacking, 
he himself was assailed and obliged to retreat. He stole away in the 
niglit, made a swift marcli eastward to Christiansburg, where he tore up a 
portion of the railroad, burned the repair-shops, and then made all haste 
to join General Crook, who was marching eastward up the Kanawha val- 
ley. General Crook had three brigades — one commanded by Col. liuther- 
ford B. Hayes, of Ohio, since then President of the United States ; the 
second by ColoTiel White, the third by Colonel Sickel. He liad four hun- 
dred cavahy — in all, six thousand men, with twelve cannon. Starting from 
the town of Fayette and marching south, he reached Cloyd's 
Mountain, where he was confronted by a large force of Con- 
federates, under Generals Jones and Jenkins, behind breastworks, with 
cannon planted to sweep the fields in front of them. To attack them in 
front, the Union soldiers must cross a brook where the water was knee- 



May 8, 1864. 



262 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

deep, climb a steep hill, with Confederate sharp-shooters behind rifle-pits 
ready to pick off the men. General Crook could see the lines of intrench- 
ments, the bank of yellow earth, the Confederate soldiers and cannon. He 
looked a long while. " It is a strong position. He may whip us, but I 
guess not," he said. (') 

His troops were in thick woods and screened by the fresh green foliage. 
"White's brigade, with two of Sickel's, stole round upon the Confederate 
right, and opened a vigorous fire. When the rolls of musketry began to 
break upon the morning air, the troops remaining in the woods waded 
the brook, rushed up the bank, charged across the fields, leaped over the 
intrenchments, capturing between two and three hundred prisoners and 
two cannon. "While the escaping Confederates were streaming along the 
fields a train of cars came down the railroad from the west, bringing rein- 
forcements from Saltville. Those fleeing rallied, but were again put to 
flight. The Union troops moved on to New River, where they found the 
Confederates, holding the bridge across that stream; but once more they 
were obliged to flee. The Union troops set the bridge on fire. General 
Crook, having accomplished what he set out to do, returned to the town 
of Union. 

General Sigel, with a small force, partly composed of German troops — 
in all, about four thousand men — was at "Winchester, guarding the lower 
end of the valley. General Grant directed him to advance up the valley 
for the purpose of attracting the attention of the Confederates while 
General Crook executed his movement. General Sigel was moving tow- 
ards New Market, his troops scattered, when he suddenly found himself 
confronted by a Confederate force. 

New Market is on the valley turnpike. The north fork of the Shen- 
andoah winds northward west of the town, and Smith's Creek runs in 
the same direction east of it. A road leads due east from 
' ' New Market, crosses Smith's Creek, ascends the slope of 
Massanutten Mountain, and goes on to Luray, where, since the war, won- 
derful caves have been discovered. 

General Breckinridge had advanced from Staunton with the brigades 
of Generals Echols and "Wharton, old soldiers who had fought many bat- 
tles. He had also two hundred and fifty cadets from the Virginia Military 
Institute at Lexington, which was established in 1839, and which had 
been well cared for by the State before the war. Many men who distin- 
guished themselves in the Confederate army graduated from this institu- 
tion. Stonewall Jackson was one of its professors at the outbreak of the 
struggle. It was a noble battalion which marched northward to join 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 



263 



May 15, 1864. 



Breckinridge. Some of the veteran soldiers, wearing clothes colored with, 
butternut bark, laughed at the boys in their cadet nniforms, and derisive- 
ly sang, " Rock-a-bye baby," and asked them if they wanted rosewood: 
coffins, lined with satin. (°) 

Rain fell, swelling the streams and saturating the ground. The newly 
ploughed fields around New Market were sticky with mud, and the sol- 
diers of both armies sank ankle-deep in attempting to march. 
Colonel Moor, with the One Hundred and Twenty - third 
Ohio, Eighteenth Connecticut, and Twenty-fourth Massachusetts, was in 
the advance. At nightfall he came upon small parties of Confederates, and 
cavalrymen riding in informed him that a large force was not far away. 
At daybreak on the morning of the 15th Sigel's force was widely scat- 
tered, the main part being two miles distant from Colonel Moor. The 
Confederates had advanced from New Market, starting at midnight. No 
bugle had sounded, no drum had been 
beaten ; the order to advance as noiselessly 
as was possible had been obeyed. 

" I do not wish to put the cadets in if 
I can avoid it, but if occasion calls I shall 
use them freely," said General Breckin- 
ridge to Colonel Skip, commanding the 
striplings from the Institute. (') 

General Breckinridge formed his lines 
with Wharton's brigade in front, and Ech- 
ols's and the cadets two liundred and fifty 
paces in the rear. Imboden, commanding 
the cavalry, was to go down Smith Creek, 
and gain Sigel's left flank and rear. It 
was Sunday morning, but there was no 
gathering of worshippers in the little 
church of New Market, no bell sending 
its resounding tones over the valley; but 

cannon, instead, opened their brazen lips amid the white head-stones of 
the cemetery. Through the morning the skirmishers of both armies were 
engaged, but it was past noon when the battle began by the advance of 
Breckinridge's troops. A Confederate ofiicer gives this account: 

" Wharton's line advanced ; Echols's followed at two hundred and fifty 
paces in the rear. As Wharton's ascended a knoll it came in full view of 
the enemy's batteries, which opened a heavy fire, but not having gotten 
the range, did but little damage. By the time the second line reached 




■B.\TTLE OF NEW MARKET. 



264 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

the same ground tliey had gotten the exact range, and tlie fire began to 
tell upon our lines Avith fearful accuracy. It was here that Captain Hill 
and others fell. Great gaps were made through the ranks, but the cadet, 
true to his discipline, would close in to the centre to fill the interval, and 
push steadily forward. The alignment of the battalion under this terrible 
lire, which strewed the ground with killed and wounded for more than a 
mile on open ground, would have been creditable even on a field-daj."(*) 

A Confederate cadet portrays the scene: "Away off to the right is 
Luray Gap, of the Massanutten range. Our signal-corps was telegraphing 
the position and numbers of the eneuiy. Our cavalry was moving at a 
gallop to the cover of the creek, to attempt to fiank tlie town. Echols's 
brigade was moving from the pike at the double-quick by the right flank, 
and went into line of battle across the meadows, the left resting on the 
pike. Out of the orchards and meadows arose puff after puff of blue 
smoke as our sharp-shooters advanced, the 'pop,' 'pop' of the rifles ring- 
ing forth exultingly. Thundering down the pike came McLaughlin with 
his artillery, and, whirling out into the meadows, let fly with all his guns. 
. . . Down the green slope we went, answering the wild cry of our com- 
rades as their musketry rattled its opening volleys. In another moment 
we should expect a pelting rain of lead from the blue line crouching be- 
liind a stone wall at the base. Then came a sound more stunning than 
thunder, that burst directly in my face ; lightnings leaped, fire fiashed, 
earth rocked, the sky whirled round, and I stumbled. My gun pitched 
forward, and I fell upon my knees. Sergeant Cabell looked back at me 
sternly, pityingly, and called out, ' Close up, men !' as he passed on. I knew 
no more. When consciousness returned, it was raining in torrents. I was 
lying on the ground, which was torn and ploughed with shell, which were 
still screeching in the air and bounding on the earth. Poor little Captain 
Hill was lying near, bathed in blood, with a fearful gash over the temple. 
Reed, Merritt, and another, also badly shot, were near at hand. The bat- 
talion was three hundred yards away, clouded in smoke and hotly en- 
gaged, and the Federal battery in the graveyard had fallen back to higher 
ground." (') 

Colonel Moor, with the front line of the Union troops, had fallen back 
to join Colonel Thoburn's brigade. They had vigorously witlistood the 
Confederate onset, but had been overlapped on both fianks. Upon an 
eminence north of the town stood the Union troops. From tlie outset 
the Confederates had the advantage in numbers, they also knew from 
the Signal Corps, who were waving their flags on the summit of Massa- 
nutten, the exact position and number of Sigel, who was ignorant of the 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. . 265 

movement of Imboden, stealing down through the woods along the east 
bank of Smith Creek to gain his rear. Imboden crossed the creek at the 
Lnray bridge, moved west, and came upon Sigel's flank. At the same mo- 
ment Wharton and Echols and the cadets — the entire Confederate force — 
moved forward. Imboden liad two cannon, which opened upon the Union 
cavalry covering Sigel's flank. Though thus attacked the Union troops 
fought bravely. From three o'clock till past six the battle went on, when 
the Union troops fell back, in such order that though Sigel had lost five 
cannon, he was able to save all his wagons and supplies. 

A Confederate officer in his official report says : " Sigel's entire line 
retired slowly. His artillery was especially damaging, and Breckinridge 
determined to silence the most mischievous battery directly in front of the 
centre of his line, and Colonel Smith, of the Sixty-second Virginia, and 
Colonel Wise with his cadets, were ordered to charge and take it. The 
battery was taken, but with fearful loss on both sides. . . . The Sixty- 
second lost 241 killed and wounded, including seven of ten captains. The 
cadets lost 69 out of 250." (") 

A Union officer gives this account : " Our front fire was heavy, and the 
artillery had an enfilading fire under which tlieir first line went down. 
The Confederates staggered, went back, and their whole advance halted. 
Tlieir fire ceased to be effective. A cheer ran along our line, and the first 
success was over. I gave the order to cease firing. Just then Colonel 
Thoburn, brigade commander, rode along the lines, telling the men to pre- 
pare to charge. He rode by me shouting some order I could not catch, 
and went to the regiment on my left, which immediately charged. I sup- 
posed this to be his order to me, and commanded the men to fix bayonets 
and charge. The men sprang forward. As we neared the crest of the 
hill the regiment on my left turned and went back. I shouted to my men 
to halt, but could not make a single man hear or heed me, and it was not 
till they had climbed the intervening fence, and were rushing ahead on the 
other side, that I was able to run along the lines, and seizing the color- 
bearer by the shoulder, held him fast as the only way of stopping the regi- 
ment. The alignment rectified, we faced about, and marched back to our 
position in common time. On reaching it the regiment halted, faced 
about, and i-esumed its fire. The path of the regiment was sadly strewn 
with our fallen. I saw to my surprise that the artillei-y had limbered up, 
and was moving off the field, and that the infantry was gone, saw our regi- 
ment, which was gallantly holding the ground, far to the left. The Con- 
federates had advanced until I could see above the smoke their battle-flags 
where the artillery had been posted. I ordered a retreat; but the men 



266 - REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

either could not Iiear or would not heed the order. I was finally obliged 
to take hold of the color-bearer, face him about, and tell him to follow 
me to get the regiment from the field. They fell back slowly, firing in re- 
treat, and encouraging each other not to run."(') 

The Union troops fell back to a strong position on a hill and spent the 
night, retreating the next day to Cedar Creek. Breckinridge made no 
attempt to follow. The Union loss was 482 killed and wounded, and 250 
who were taken prisoners. Affairs in the Shenandoah had been so badly 
managed by Sigel that General Hunter was appointed to command the 
Department. Reinforcements were sent him increasing his force to 8500 
men, with twenty-one guns. 

General Hunter received orders from General Grant to push on if pos- 
sible to Charlottesville and Lynchburg, and destroy the railroads and canals. 
General Hunter, wishinar to move rapidly, determined to 

May 26, 1864. . . i ^ • i .* j j ^i 

take no large supply-tram, but to depend upon tlie country 
for food. He allowed very little baggage. He forbade pillaging, but all 
food was to be collected by authorized officers, and all citizens who were 
loyal to the United States were to be paid for the articles taken. A sup- 
ply-train moving down the turnpike from Martinsburg was captured by 
Confederate guerillas and destroyed. Had Hunter issued his orders for 
living upon the country he could not have advanced. 

Immediately after the battle of New Market, General Lee, finding that 
General Grant was moving to the North Anna, ordered General Breckin- 
ridge to hasten to his assistance. Quite likely General Lee tliought that 
as General Sigel had been defeated there would be no immediate move- 
ment of Union troops in the Shenandoah, but General Hunter moved on 
to New Market, Harrisburg, and Piedmont. 

At daybreak the Union troops were on the march, the cavalry in ad- 
vance. Not far from Piedmont they came upon a body of Confederates. 
Gen. William E. Jones, with about five thousand men, had 

June 5, 1864. ^ ^ ^ .. -j.- J.^ • ^ i ^ i 

selected a strong position, thrown up intrenchments, and 
was ready for a battle. It was seven o'clock in the morning when the 
Union skirmishers advanced, but they found that the Confederates were 
also advancing. The LTnion soldiers could hear a Confederate band play- 
ing the Marseillaise Hymn. Grandly its strains floated out upon the morn- 
insf air, minslino- with the reverl)eratin2^ echoes of the cannonade. 

General Jones concentrated the most of his troops against the right of 
the Union line ; and General Hunter, discovering it, sent Thoburn's brigade 
to its support. The Thirty-fourth Massachusetts was sent through fields 
and woods, and fell upon the flank of the Confederates. The Union troops 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 267 

pressed on with great vigor, and in fiv^e minutes nearly sixty of that regi- 
ment were killed or wounded. A lialf-hour and the battle was over, the 
Confederates defeated, losing more than one thousand in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners — the Confederate commander being numbered among the 
killed. 

By this victory the troops of Crook and Av^erill were enabled to join 
Hunter at Staunton, giving him an army of eighteen thousand, and thirty 
guns. At Staunton were factories wdiich supplied the Confederate army 
with saddles, harnesses, clothing, and shoes, all of which were destroyed, 
too;ether with six miles of the railroad-track. 

General Hunter waited several days at Staunton for supplies of cloth- 
ing and shoes for Crook's troops. It w^ould have been far better if he had 
hastened on at once to Lynchburg, as we shall see. 

Through a wide and beautiful valley the troops of Hunter went on to 

Lexington. Some of the cadets fired upon the Union soldiers from the 

buildino;s of the Military Institute, whereupon the buildino-s 

June 10, 1864. , '^ _ , "^ . , ' . ^ ... , . , , , 

were burned, together with several iron -mills which had 
been manufacturing iron for the Confederate Government. John Letcher, 
who was Governor of Virginia in 1861, and who did what he could to 
bring about the secession of the State, published a proclamation calling 
upon the people to become guerillas, and then ignominiously fled, where- 
upon General Hunter issued an order to burn his house. Several canal- 
boats loaded with supplies, and six cannon, were captured. The Union 
cavalry under Duffie, after the battle of Piedmont, followed the fleeing 
Confederates to Waynesboro, but finding them intrenched, turned south, 
crossed the Blue Ridge by Tye River Gap, reached Amherst, moved on 
to Arrington Station, on the railroad leading from Charlottesville to Lynch- 
burg, and tore up the track. 

The Confederate cavalry under Imboden came upon him, and there 
was a sharp engagement, resulting in the repulse of the Confederates, who 
lost one hundred men, four hundred horses, and a portion of their wag- 
ons. Turning back, Duffie recrossed the Blue Ridge at White's Gap, re- 
joining General Hunter at Lexington June 13th. 

It was startling news that reached General Lee at Cold Harbor — the 
defeat of Jones at Piedmont. Breckinridge's troops were sent back with 
all possible speed to Lynchburg, a vital point to General Lee. It is on the 
James River, in a rich and fertile section. It had numerous manufactories 
and flouring-mills. If General Hunter were to take it, the Confederate 
army and the people of Richmond would be cut off from a large portion 
of their supplies. The emergency was so critical that he directed General 



268 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

Early, commanding Stonewall Jackson's old troops, to make all haste west- 
ward. The fortifications at Cold Harbor had been made so strong that he 
could hold them with Longstreet's and Hill's corps and the troops that 
had come from tlie sonth. So it came abont that Early's troops were 
quietly withdrawn and started westward. As the railroad to Gordonsville 
had been destroyed, tliey were obliged to march ; but they had learned un- 
der Stonewall Jackson how to make long marches, and thought nothing of 
making twenty miles a day. While Hunter was w\aiting at Lexington for 
Dnffie's return and for a wagon-train of shoes and clothing and ammuni- 
tion, a rich opportunity for him was passing away. 

But the Union troops were not all idle. General Averill, command- 
ing a division of cavalry, reached Buchanan. The Confederate cavalry 
under McCausland was there, but was driven. McCausland, 
thinking to prevent the Union cavalry from following him, 
set the bridge crossing the James on fire, against the wishes of the citi- 
zens. Eleven buildings were burned. The Union troops did what they 
could to save the other buildings. General Hunter's scouts informed him 
that Breckinridge had returned with his two brigades, and was holding 
Rock Fish Gap and the road to Charlottesville. The prisoners taken by 
Duffie said that a large body of Confederates was coming from Lee's army 
to hold Lynchbnrg. They also said that Sheridan had been defeated by 
the Confederate cavalry at Louisa Court-house. What should General 
Hunter do? If he were to advance directly towards Charlottesville he 
would encounter Breckinridge, with six or eight thousand, in Rock Fish 
Gap ; but there were no Confederates to oppose his direct march to Lynch- 
burg. He decided to make a rapid march to Buchanan, twenty-four miles 
from Lexington, and thence cross the Bhie Ridge and reach Lynchburg if 
possible before the arrival of Early. 

While the army was marching from Lexington to Buchanan two hun- 
dred Union cavalrymen on good horses were moving from Buchanan across 
the ridge to Amherst. If they had torn up a mile or two of track they 
would have rendered great service ; but without doing much damage to 
the railroad, they turned south-east, reached James River, crossed it below 
Lynchburg, came to the Southside Railroad, tore up a portion of the track, 
burned two trains of cars at Concordia Station, turned west, and rejoined 
Hunter at Liberty, thus riding round Lynchburg. 

The Union army, the while, was crossing the Blue Ridge. At four 
o'clock in the morning the reveille was sounded, and the 

June 15, 1864. , .11 -mi • ^ 

troops began to wind up tlie mountain. I hose in the rear 
could see the column far above them, and hear the rumbling of the artil- 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 



269 



lery; those above 
could look down 
upon the long 
line stretching far 
awaj. Tlie road 
was narrow, its 
windings frequent. 
Some of the wag- 
ons were lost by 
rolling down the 
almost perpendic- 
ular clilfs. Gue- 
rillas lired on the 
troops from behind 
rocks. Slow and 
tedious the ascent, 
but at night the 
troops encamped 
upon the summit. 
The Union 
army was march- 
ing through Liber- 
ty eastward. The 
cavalry under 
Crook was tearing 
up the rails on the 
road leading 
to East Ten- 
nessee from 
Liberty to 
Big Otter Creek, 
bui-ning the ties 
and bending the 
rails. Two hun- 
dred wagons were 
leaving Liberty for 
Lewiston, on the 
Great Kanawha, 
guarded by sol- 
diers from Ohio, 



June 

16, 

1864. 




270 EEUEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

returning home, their term of service ended. In the afternoon the Union 
cavalry found tlie forces of Imboden and McCauslaud disputing their 
advance. 

Hunter was within four miles of Lynchburg. Averill's cannon opened 

fire upon the Confederates. Crook came to Averill's assistance, charged, 

and captured two cannon. Through the afternoon the Union 

June 17, 1864. , ,. , , , ., i , • i i • , 

soldiers could hear railroad-trains, and when night came, with 
its stillness, they could hear the people cheering Early's troops, who were 
being whirled into the city from Charlottesville. 

During the night the Confederates were constructing intrenchments. 
The first glimmer of dawn was lighting the eastern horizon when the 

Union troops were aroused from sleep. A little later the 

June 18, 1864. ... , ^ /-, i i * -n , • , 

artillery began. Crook and Averill were upon the right, 
Duftie upon the left. The pickets began a fusillade, and then came a 
sharp contest, the Confederates charging but meeting a repulse, some of 
the Union troops following them to their breastworks, losing two hundred 
men. 

General Hunter saw that the opportunity for capturing Lynchburg 
had passed. His provisions were nearly gone ; the last piece of hard-bread 
had been eaten. lie had only six ounces of flour per day for the men. 

"No fires to-night," was the order. The sun went down behind the 
peaks of Otter, and darkness settled over the valley. Silently the Union 
troops departed, the pickets remaining till near midnight. General Hunter 
saw that he could not well retreat down the valley of the Shenandoah ; for 
if he took that direction, the Confederates, by using the railroad, would be 
able to reach the valley before him and block his way. He decided to re- 
treat down the valley of the Great Kanawha. AYhile on the march, the 
Confederate cavalry under McCauslaud came suddenly upon the artillery- 
train. ISTo infantry were at hand, and the Confederates cut out three 
pieces before being repulsed. So many horses had been lost that five 
other cannon had to be abandoned. 

Supplies were gone. There was little food in the mountain region. 
Men dropped by the road-side, weary and faint from marching. "• Hun- 
dreds of my men are starving," said General Crook. 

A Union officer wrote thus in his diary : " Started at three this morn- 
ing and halted about noon, when meat and a little coffee were issued. The 
boys look so gaunt and are so liuno:ry, it makes our hearts 

June 27, 1864. , ^^ . , , i -r i n r i £ 

ache to see them. At the halt I saw two dollars refused for 
one small griddle-cake." C) 

The soldiers were without food on one occasion for two days. During 



r 




GENERAL CUSTER. 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 273 

• 

the last week of the march they had one ounce of flour only per day, and 
a little meat. In this movement against Lynchburg the soldiers marched 
nearly six hundred miles, and suffered bitter hardships, besides fighting 
three battles. A soldier wrote this to his mother : " Seven days after leav- 
ing Salem we were in the mountains and woods, not a house within ten 
miles. We had no bread, no meat, no nothing. The men grew poor and 
thin. When I looked into a glass for the first time I was startled at the 
change. I hardly knew myself. My face was black and thin, my eyes large, 
and of such expression they looked as if they would eat me up.''^*) 

We have seen that General Hunter was directed to move upon Char- 
lottesville and Lynchburg. General Grant, with this in mind, directed 
General Sheridan to move in that direction, destroy the 
Virginia Central Kailroad, meet Hunter at Charlottesville, 
and retire with him to the Army of the Potomac. General Sheridan 
started with two divisions, marching north, crossing the North Anna at 
Carpenter's Ford, on the road to Trevilian's Depot. 

General Lee learned of Sheridan's departure, and sent Hampton and 
Fitz-Hugh Lee with the Confederate cavalry, to see what he was intend- 
ing to do. 

When evening came, on the night of June 10th, Sheridan was north- 
east of Trevilian's. Hampton, with his division, was in Green Spring 
Yallev, three miles north-west of the depot, and Fitz-Hugli 

June 10, 1864. -_ t • r-, i • -i f c- • * , 

Lee at Louisa Court-house, six miles south-east ot it. About 

half-way between the railroad and Carpenter's Ford was a little store, 

owned by Mr. Clayton, from which a road ran to Louisa Court-house. 

Hampton decided to move from Spring Valley to the depot, and thence 

to Clayton's. Fitz-Hugh Lee was to join him there, and together they 

would attack the Union cavalry. 

General Sheridan's men were early in the saddle, moving west. 

Hampton was also on the move at three o'clock. Just as day was break- 

insc, Torbert's division came ao-ainst Hampton's. The meet- 
June 11. 1864. . °' . ... 1 -r. r , -, X- , ^ n ^ 

ing was in thick woods, Uutler s and i oung s Coniederate 
brigades being on the main road, and Rosser's on a parallel road farther 
north. The Confederates had dismounted, and were making a breast- 
work of fence-rails. 

General Sheridan quickly decided to send General Custer to gain 
Hampton's rear. He directed Gregg to fall upon Fitz-Hugh Lee, while 
Torbert was to confront Hampton. • Custer made his way through the 
woods and attacked with vigor, capturing Rosser's supply-train, and seizing 
fifteen hundred of the horses of the men who had dismounted to meet 
18 



274 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Torbert. Cnster turned tliein over to tlie Fifth Michigan Regiment to 
take hack to Sheridan ; but Hampton intercepted the escort, recaptured 
most of the horses, and seized Custer's own headquarters wagon. Most 
of the escort readied Sheridan, and reported what had liappened. Custer 
found himself surrounded. He had only four small regiments and four 
cannon, but fought his way out. The Confederates charged upon Pen- 
nington's battery and seized one cannon. "I have lost one of my guns,'' 
said Captain Pennington. "We will see," said Custer. "Charge!" he 
shouted, and sixty cavalrymen, led by himself, went tearing across the 
field, cutting down the Confederates ai'ound the cannon. " Here is your 
gun, take it," said Custer. 

Through the day the strife went on, Gregg pushing Fitz-Hugh Lee, 
while Sheridan, dismounting Torbert's men, assailed Hampton's troops 
behind their breastworks, carrying them, and driving the Confederates 
back upon Custer, capturing nearly five hundred prisoners. The loss on 
both sides was very heavy. Hampton and Fitz-Hugh Lee fell back tow- 
ards Gordonsville. 

General Sheridan learned from the prisoners that Breckinridge was at 

Gordonsville. They said that Early was on his way to Lynchburg to head 

off Hunter. Slieridan's horses were laded : there was little 

June 12, 1864. , , , -, i i i- ^ i 

forage to be had, and the supphes oi the country were so ex- 
hausted that he could not support his troops. As he could learn nothing 
directly concerning Hunter he decided to rejoin General Grant. 

AVe have seen that the victor}^ of General Hunter at Piedmont was 
won on June 5th, that the escaping Confederates fled towards Waynes- 
boro. It is only a good day's march- from that town to Charlottesville. 
We can now see that if General Hunter, instead of moving to Staunton 
after the battle of Piedmont, had vigorously followed the fleeing Confed- 
erates he would have reached Waynesboro on the next day before the 
arrival of Breckinridge. Then tearing up the railroad between Charlottes- 
ville and Lynchburg, he would have been free to move on ; but by turn- 
ing towards Staunton, waiting for the arrival of a wagon-train, and the 
tarry at Lexington, enabled Lee to send Early, and thus foil him at Lynch- 
burg and compel him to retreat down the Great Kanawha. Thus an army 
of fifteen thousand men was rendered useless for service for several weeks 
at a moment when, if he had taken the route to Charlottesville the day 
after the victory at Piedmont, he would have been of inestimable service 
to General Grant. 

The time had come for a bold movement on the part of the Confeder- 
ates. When General Lee sent Early to head ofl: Hunter he contemplated 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 277 

a Jarger movement, the menacing of Washington. Hunter was retreating 
down the vallej of the Kanawha, towards Ohio; there were no Union 
troops in the Shenandoah. Early had seventeen thousand troops, veter- 
ans who had been in many battles, and who were inured to hardships, four 
divisions — Ramseur's, Echols's, Rodes's, and Gordon's — between forty and 
fifty cannon, and a large force of cavalry, with few Union troops to oppose 
him. General Early saw that he could choose his own course and made 
quick preparation. He issued orders to take verv little bas:- 

June27, 1864. ^ ^^■ ^^ r^ , , , . , 

gage, compelhng the otiicers to carry whatever clothing they 
might need. He knew that he would find cattle, flour, corn, and supplies 
in abundance, and so was not hampered by long trains of wagons. On the 
27th he started from Staunton. The roads were in excellent order. Im- 
boden, with his division of cavalry, swept on in advance, crossing !N^orth 
Mountain, moving to tear up the track of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
M'est of Martinsburg, burning bridges so that Hunter, when he reached the 
Ohio, could not be whirled through Wheeling eastward to gain his rear. 

General Sigel was at Martinsburo^, with a few troops, e-uard- 

Julv 2 1864 

ing the large amount of Government supplies stored in that 
town. When the Union scouts informed him that Early was on the march, 
he telegraphed to Baltimore for cars and removed the supplies. When 
the Confederate cavalry dashed into town they found empty warehouses, 
no engines or cars to be destroyed, and the Union troops retreating tow- 
ards Shepherdstown. Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, of Baltimore, command- 
ed a division of Confederate cavalry, and dashed towards Leetown in jDur- 
suit of Sigel, but was confronted by Colonel Mulligan, who held him in 
check till Sigel, with his trains, was on the north bank of the Potomac, 
holding Maryland Heights. General Weber held Harper's Ferry, and 
also retreated across the Potomac. To prevent the Confederates from 
using the railroad bridge, one span was destroyed. When Early's troops 
attempted to take possession of the village of Harper's Ferry they were 
driven back by the fire of the Union cannon on Maryland Heights. Sigel 
had about six thousand men, two veteran regiments, four regiments of 
militia from Ohio, twenty-five hundred dismounted cavalry, and between 
forty and fifty cannon. In addition, there was a brigade of cavalry, under 
General Stahl, in Pleasant Yalley. The Confederate cavalry crossed the 
Potomac at Shepherdstown, moved over the battle-field of Antietain, and 
dashed into Hagerstown, made a requisition for twenty thousand dollars^ 
burned a great deal of hay and grain, creating a panic among the people, 
who collected their cattle and horses and started them in droves north- 
ward into Pennsylvania. Many of the farmers packed their household 



278 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

goods into wagons, and hastened away from tlieir houses. General Early 
intended to advance towards Washington directly from Harper's Ferry, 
but could not do it because the Union troops held Maryland Heights. He 
found every approach swept by the artillery, and was compelled to move 
north to Sharpsburg and Boonsborough, and then eastward over South 
Mountain to Frederick. 

The military authorities in Washington thought that it was only a 
small raiding party of Confederates. 

General Grant supposed that after the retreat of Hunter General Lee 
would recall Early to the defence of Richmond ; when he learned the 
state of affairs, he offered to send an army corps ; but Gen- 
" ■■ "' ' eral Halleclc thought that if Grant would send np the cav- 
alrymen who had lost their horses, they would be all the troops needed. 
General Grant thought otherwise, and sent not only the dismounted cav- 
alry but Ricketts's division of the Sixth Corps. The dismounted cavalry 
were of little account, most of them being sick or convalescents from the 
hospitals. 

The troops of the Sixth Corps embarked on a steamer at City Point, 
went down the James and up the Chesapeake to Baltimore ; for General 
Halleck was in doubt whether Early was intending to attack Washington 
or the former city. 

While the steamboats were on their way np the Chesapeake, Gen. Lew 

Wallace, in command at Baltimore, sent what few troops he had westward 

to Monocacy River, near Frederick, as they would be in 

^' ^ ' ' position along that stream to confront Early in his move- 
ments towards either city. The Eighth Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel 
Clendennis, made a reconnoissance to Frederick, and thence along the 
turnpike towards Middleton. They encountered the division of General 
Johnson. There was a sharp skirmish, ending in the falling back of the 
Union troops to Frederick, the Confederates to Middleton. 

General Wallace had only a handful of troops who had been hastily 
collected from the forts around Baltimore and along the railroads — twenty- 
live hundred — many of them soldiers who had enlisted for 
' ' ' one hundred days, and who never had been in battle. They 
were commanded by General Tyler. Soon after sunrise a train of freight 
cars came from Baltimore bringing a portion of General Ricketts's divis- 
ion of the Sixth Corps from Petersburg. The cars came to a standstill 
outside the city; the soldiers, weary with their all-night ride, kindled 
fires and cooked their coffee, and then marched across fields, threw up 
breastworks, then were marched to another field. General Wallace kept 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 



279 



them moving, with the design of deceiving Earlj as to his numbers, hop- 
ing to delay the advance of the Confederates till the arrival of the whole 
of Ricketts's division. ('") 

Gleneral Early was cautiously advancing towards Frederick. There 
was skirmishing between the cavalry, the Union troops retreating towards 
the Monocacy, and the Confederates entering the city, helping themselves 
to boots, shoes, clothing, bacon, and flour. General Early demanded two 
hundred thousand dollars in money, which was paid him. During the 




EARLY S MOVEMENT TO WASHINGTOX. 



day the entire force of Ricketts's division arrived, giving General "Wallace 
six thousand men and six cannon, against twenty thousand Confederates 
and forty cannon. 

The morning dawned, with the little force under General Wallace 

posted along the banks of the winding Monocacy. The troops under 

General Tyler held the right of the Union line. Upon no 

July 9, 1864. •,,.,,,. , o i i, f. j- 

other rield durmg the war was there such a collection oi 
odds and ends of regiments marshalled to fight a battle, which might 



2S0 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

result in consequences of vital moment to the parties; for if Early slionld 
sweep this little line of men from their position by such an onset as those 
same Confederate regiments had made at Chancellorsville under Jackson, 
there would be no other Union force to oppose his entrance to the capital 
of the United States. The troops of Tyler were — the Third Regiment of 
Potomac Home Guards, Eleventh Maryland Regiment, seven companies 
of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth, three companies of the One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-ninth Ohio Militia, two hundred and fifty Eighth Illinois 
Cavalry, Captain Lieb's battalion of one hundred mounted infantry, Cap- 
tain Brown's company of one hundred Maryland Home Guards, Captain 
Alexander with three cannon — these, numbering, in all, twenty-five hun- 
dred, extended from the stone bridge across the Monocacy on the Balti- 
more turnpike southward, a distance of more than two miles. Only the 
men of the Eighth Cavalry -had ever been in battle. General Ricketts's 
line covered another mile, from the railroad bridge south. General Early 
moved out from Frederick with Rodes's division marching down the turn- 
pike leading to Baltimore ; Ramseur's division took the road leading to 
Washington, while Gordon marched through the fields nearer the Potomac 
River, to cross the Monocacy, turn Ricketts's flank, and win the battle. 
General Wallace placed a body of skirmishers on the west bank of the 
river to harass the Confederate advance. AVlien closely pressed, they were 
to retreat across the wooden bi'idge, which was to be set on fire so that the 
Confederates should not use it. 

The Union troops, from their position on the east bank, could see the 
long lines of Confederates, three times their own number, deploying in 
the green meadows and trampling down the fields of wheat ripe for the 
reaper. It was a beautiful spectacle, as the veterans' ranks filed from 
the turnpike, their battle -flags waving in the summer breeze, the sun- 
light glinting from their bayonets. So many of them were dressed in blue 
uniforms captured from the Union army that some of the Home Guards 
in the Union ranks could hardly be persuaded to fire upon them, confi- 
dently believing that they were Union soldiers, and not till they saw them 
fire could they believe that they were Confederates. (") 

It was a great surprise to Mr. C. K. Tliomas that Saturday morning to 
find that a battle was to be fought on his farm — to see the men of the 
Tenth Vermont and Fifty-first New York regiments standing in line of 
battle around his buildings and beneath his peach-trees. It was a large 
brick house, and instead of fleeing, Mrs. Thomas and the family remained 
to cook bread and do what they could for the soldiers, and find shelter in 
the cellar when the battle began. 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 281 

The Confederate cannon sent their shells into the ranks of the Union 
troops. It was a feeble fire which the six Union guns made to the six bat- 
teries opposing them. It was half-past ten when the Confederates advanced, 
and it was a surprise to them when a steady volley was poured into their 
ranks by the veterans of the Sixth Corps. Their ofiicers had informed 
them that they would meet only the Home Guards. The volleys were 
given by the Tenth Vermont and One Hundredth New York, and were 
so destructive that the Confederates fell back with disordered ranks. 

Again the Confederates advanced. A Union officer says of the second 
attempt : 

" The second charge and repulse was a grand scene, such as made the 
blood tingle in our veins. It was in marked contrast to Petersburg rifle- 
pit style of fighting. Here our men had the advantage of position, acting 
on the defensive, with fair protection, an open field, and a full view. . . . 
About 10.30 the long wooden bridge at my left over the river was burned 
by order of General Wallace, to guard against a flank attack upon General 
Eicketts."('=) 

A portion of General Ricketts's troops — nearly three regiments — were 
several miles in the rear. They were sent for, but did not make an ap- 
pearance upon the field. General Wallace says : " I could probably have 
retired without much trouble, as the rebels were badly punished. The 
main object of the battle was unaccomplished — their strength not yet 
developed." 

From eleven o'clock till past two in the afternoon the contest went on 
sharply between the skirmishers. Gordon's division was making its turn- 
ing movement, fording the Monocacy and marching to gain AVallace's left 
flank. The Union troops changed position to present a front line to Gor- 
don, who turned north-east after crossing the stream. It was past three 
when the white -heat of battle came on between Ricketts and Gordon. 
Ricketts was obliged to j)ivot the right flank of his division on the Mono- 
cacy, to prevent Ramseur from crossing. The Confederate artillery on 
the west bank sent a storm of shells into Ricketts's ranks, partly enfi- 
lading the line. General Tyler, the while, was resolutely confronting 
Rodes, who made no great effort to cross the stream, knowing that Gor- 
don's movement would soon put to flight the Union troops, so few in 
number, comparatively, to Early's. Wallace, seeing the line could not be 
held, ordered Ricketts to retire. Rodes made a rush upon the Union 
troops holding the bridge, several hundred of whom were caj)tured, their 
retreat being cut off by Gordon. Had they been withdrawn ten minutes 
earlier they would have escaped. Wallace fell back along the turnpike 



282 



EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



to New Market, tlie Con- 
federates making no pur- 
suit in that direction, but 
preparing to advance 
upon Washington. The 
battle was stubbornly 
fought on the part of the 
Union troo2)S, who lost 
nearly two thousand in 
killed, wounded, and 
missing. Nearly seven 
hundred were captured 
by Early. It is supposed 
that the Confederates 
lost nearly one thousand 
in killed and wounded. 
The stand thus resolutely 
made by Wallace when 
he knew that he was vast- 
ly outnumbered, and the 
advantages gained by de- 
laying Early in advan- 
cing upon Washington, 
were incalculable. There 
was no panic in the ranks 
of the Sixth Corps as they retreated from the field. Wallace brought off 
his six cannon. Early had gained a victory, but at great comparative loss. 
With the break of day, while the birds were singing their morning songs, 
the Confederate trooj^s were astir, the long colunm moving 
down the Georgetown turnpike towards the nation's capital. 
In Baltimore the church bells were clanging, calling the citizens, not 
to worship, but to the fortifications erected for the defence of the city, 
Wallace had fallen back to Ellicott's Mills, leaving the road open for Early 
to march to Washington. The Confederate cavalry under Johnson, who 
came from Maryland, and who knew all the roads, were sweeping north- 
ward to Westminster and eastward to the railroad leading from Baltimore 
to Harrisburg, tearing up the track, capturing mules and horses, and send- 
ins them south to the fords of the Potomac at Edwards Ferrv, and hasten- 
ing droves of cattle into Virginia. The Confederates rode north-east of 
Baltimore, came to the long bridge at Gunpowder Eiver, captured two 




BATTLE OF MONOCACY. 



July 10, 1864. 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 283 

trains of passenger cars, backed the trains upon tlie bridge, and set bridge 
and cars on fire. They burned Governor Bradford's liouse. This was 
done by men who before tlie war were citizens of Maryhmd — a State 
which had not seceded from tlie Union — who could not plead, as could 
the people of the Southern States, that they were defending the i-ights of 
their respective States. The troops wliich destroyed the bridge and cars 
were led by Harry Gilmor, a citizen of Maryland. 

At the beginning of the campaign. General Grant, foreseeing that he 
would need reinforcements in his great contest with General Lee, had 
ordered the corps commanded by General Emory, which had been a year 
in Louisiana, to embark at New Orleans for Fortress Monroe. Was it 
chance alone that brought the troops of that command to Fortress Monroe 
at the moment when they were most needed ? The steamships transport- 
ing these veterans reached Fortress Monroe, and were sent up the Poto- 
mac to Washington. Tlie telegraph, a few hours after the battle of Mo- 
nocacy, flashed the news to General Grant, who instantly ordered the 
remaining division of the Sixth Corps to hasten to Washington. I was 
at City Point when they arrived, after a march of fourteen miles from the 
trenches. Steam was hissing from the escape-pipes of the steamers lying 
at the wharves. Without breaking step, the bronzed veterans filed across 
the gang-planks, the cable was cast off, and the wheels turned and the 
vessels disappeared down the James. 

In Washington, on that Sunday, men were hurrying here and there, 
orderlies and lieutenants riding in hot haste. Gen. C. C. Augur was in 
command. He issued orders to gather up the convalescents from the hos- 
pitals, the soldiers on detached service, the marines and sailors from the 
Navy Yard, the militia, the clerks in the quartermaster's department. 
These, together with the veteran reserves and the heavy artillerymen, 
numbered nearly twenty thousand ; but they w^ere widely scattered and 
could not readily be concentrated. The chances were that Early, by a de- 
termined assault, would somewhere break through the line of intrench- 
ment and make his way into the city. 

Down the James and up the Potomac steamed the vessels bearing the 

men of the Sixth Corps, reaching the wharves in Washington at the foot 

of Sixth Street at two o'clock in the afternoon. As the 

Jiilv 11, 1864. 1 1 1 1 1 T 

steamers came to the dock tlie soldiers saw a tall man stand- 
ing there to welcome them — Abraham Lincoln — and they rent the air with 
their cheers. The great ocean steamer from New Orleans, with eight hun- 
dred men on board, came in at the same moment. Rested and refreshed, 
the soldiers marched down the gang-plank and up Seventh Street, amid 



284: 



KEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 




THE DEFENCES OF WASHINGTON. 



the waving of 
handkerchiefs 
from every door, 
and tlie air ringing 
witli the cheers of 
the people, who drew 
long breaths once 
more as they beheld 
the veterans who were 
to defend the nation's 
capital. 
On Sunday morning, after burying the dead at Monocacy and send- 
ino; the wounded to Frederick, the Confederates started for Washington, 
marching twenty miles and halting for the night near liockville, the Con- 
federate cavalry under McCausland having a sharp skirmish with the 
Sixteenth Pennsylvania and a portion of the Eighth Illinois, the Union 
troops driving the Confederates. Early had detailed Ramseur's division 
to guard his rear, and now Sigel's cavalry from Harper's Ferry was pick- 
ing up stragglers from his ranks. Early saw that he must advance rapidly 
if he would seize the capital, and soon after daybreak on Monday his 
troops were moving on. At nine o'clock the Confederate cavalry were 
at Tenallytown, north of Georgetown ; and the infantry, a little later, look- 
ing across the fields, could see the white and unfinished dome of the Cap- 
itol gleaming in the mid-day sun. The day was hot, and Early's men began 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 285 

to droop. During a period of thirty days they liad marclied from Cold 
Harbor to Lynchburg, from Lyncliburg to Harper's Ferry, from there to 
Boonsborough, from Boonsborough to Monocacy, had fought a battle, and 
now were at Washington. They had suffei'ed great hardship, and could 
not longer march under the blazing sun. 

The Union cavalry fell back, and formed a picket line in front of the 
fortifications. The men of the Sixth Corps, while marching down the 
gang-plank, heard the booming of the 32-pounder cannon in Fort Stevens, 
out on Seventh Street, announcing the advance of the Confederates. Un- 
der the vigorous fire of the great guns the Confederate skirmishers came 
to a halt. 

Fort Stevens and Fort De Russey stood west of Seventh Street, and 
Fort Slocum east of it. There was a deep, wooded ravine between Forts 
Stevens and De Russey, with Rock Creek winding through it. The forts 
M^ere so situated that if the Confederates were to carry either of them 
it could be swept by the fire of the others. It was two o'clock when the 
Sixth Corps and the troops of the Nineteenth latided. Two hours later 
General Wright was in Fort Stevens surveying the ground, and his troops 
were filing into the fields. General Early's opportunity had gone by. 
Never was a Confederate army to march triumphantly through the streets, 
or to fiing out the flag of the Confederacy as an emblem of sovereignty 
and power above the dome of the nation's capitol. 

General Early says : " The day was so exceedingly^ hot, even at a very 
early hour in the morning, and the dust was so dense, that many of the 
men fell by the way, and it became necessary to slacken our pace. When 
we reached the fortifications the men were completely exhausted, and not 
in condition to make the attack. ... I determined to make the assault, 
but before it could be made it became evident that the enemy had been 
strongly reinforced. . . . After consultation with my division commander I 
became satisfied that the assault, even if successful, w^ould be attended with 
great sacrifice, or would insure the destruction of my whole force before 
the victory could be made available, and if unsuccessful would necessarily 
have resulted in the loss of the whole force." ('^) 

There was a dripping fire from the skirmishers in front of Fort 

Stevens ; but General Early showed no signs of bringing on a battle. 

General Wrio-ht, commandino; the Sixth Corps, determined 

July 12, 1864. . ^, \ . -, n .i • i n 

to attack. The heavy cannon in the forts sent their shells 
upon the Confederates in the fields and orchards on the farm of Mr. Rives. 
General Wright and Abraham Lincoln stood on the parapet of Fort Ste- 
vens, together with several ladies who had come from Washington in car- 



286 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

riages to see a battle. It was two o'clock in the afternoon when Getty's 
division, commanded by General Wheaton, moved out from Fort Stevens, 
Bidwell's brigade driving the Confederate skirmishers. The rattling fire 
deepened into volleys of musketry ; the battle going on till sunset, the 
Confederates falling back, and during the night retreating to Rockville, 
signalling their departure by burning the house of Mr. Blair, one of the 
members of President Lincoln's Cabinet. 

The Union force at Washington was not strong enough to march out 
and bring on a pitched battle, nor was General Early disposed to engage 
in such a contest. He had come to seize the capital, but had been foiled 
in his efforts. Had he hastened on after crossing the Potomac, instead 
of lingering at Boonsborough and Frederick, there would have been no 
battle at Monocacy, and the chances were that he would have been able 









CONFEDERATES RETKEATLNG ACROSS THE POTOMAC WITH THEIR PLUNDER. 

to seize the intrenchments. Had he entered the city he doubtless would 
have committed great havoc, but quite likely, in the end, would have lost 
his army through the closing around him of Union troops from every 
quarter. 

The Confederates were making their way to the fords of the Potomac 

with a drove of horses and cattle which they had taken from the people 

of Maryland. It was time for Early to be irone, for had he 

July 13, 1804. . *^, , , r.. ^ -, TT 111 

remained a day or two longer, Sigel and Hunter would Jiave 
been closing in upon him from the west. Hunter, upon reaching the Ohio 
River after his retreat down the Kanawha, embarked his troops on steam- 
boats, ascended the river to Wheeling, and they were on their way east- 
ward over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The force closing around 
Early from the west and from Washington was much larger than his own. 
Had he lingered, it is probable that his army would soon have been scat- 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 287 

tered to the winds. He had lost heavily at Monocacy and in the engage- 
ment at Fort Stevens. His troops were weary. He had gathered laro-e 
herds of cattle and horses, much corn and flour; but he had not brought 
about what the Confederate Government hoped would be the result of 
the movement — tlie withdrawal of Grant from Peterdbu rg or the capture 
of Washington. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER X. 

' ) E. Pond, " Shenaodoali Valley," p. 12. 

'■') J. S. Wise, Centuvi) Magazine, .January, 1889. 

3) Lieutenant-colonel Ship, "Report of the Battle of New Market," p. 7. 

*) General Breckinridge's Report. 

^) J. S. Wise, Century Magazine, January, 1889. 

") General Imboden's Report. 

^) Colonel Wells's Letter to Governor Andrew, Massachusetts Archives. 

'*) "History of Thirty-fourth ^lassachusetts Regiment," p. 230. 

') Sergeant-major Black, "History of Thirty -fourth Massachusetts Regiment" 

p. 324. 
'") Capt. George Davis's Paper read before Stannard Post No. 2, Grand Army of 

the Republic, Burlington, Vt. 
") Idem. 
'■-) Idem. 
'^) Geu. J. A. Earlj^ "Memoir of the Last Year of the War," p. 58. 



288 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



CHAPTEK XI. 

THE " ALABAMA " AND " KEARSARGE. " 

IT was on a Sunday morning in August, 1S62, that the Confederate flag 
was hoisted above the decks of the Alahcuna. In "Marching to Vic- 
tory " (chaps, ii., iii.), the story of the building of that vessel in England 
and her departure has been told. Her career as a destroyer 

August 24, 1862. . ^ , -, . , , ,• ^t ^^ -i i 

01 vessels belongmg to the merchants ot JNew l ork and 
!Rew England began on that Sunday morning, three miles from one of the 
islands of the Azores. Up to that hour the Alabama had been the British 
ship Envica. 

Captain Seinmes stepped upon a gun-carriage, read the commission 
which he had received from Jeiferson Davis appointing him a captain in 
the Confederate navy, and then the Confederate flag rose to the peak. 
"This vessel henceforth is to be called the Alahama^'' he said. The of- 
ficers and crew uncovered their heads. The flag of England came down, 
and the flag of the Confederacy floated in the sunshine. ( ' ) 

Up to that moment the Alahama had no crew. The men 'on board 
had been shipped for a trip to the West Indies, a reckless set, who cared 
little what might become of them. Captain Semmes made a speech. Those 
who might desire to go back to England could do so ; but if they would 
ship with him on the Alahama, there would be plenty of excitement and 
adventure ; they would destroy a great many vessels ; there would be no 
end of plnnder ; they would have prize-money paid them in gold, voted 
them by the Confederate Congress. Tlie temptation of prize-mone}^ glit- 
tered in their imaginations, and eighty out of ninety enlisted. This is 
what Semmes said : " The democratic part of the proceedings closed as 
soon as the articles were signed. It was the last public meeting ever 
held on board the Alahama, and no other stump speech was ever made 
to the crew. When I wanted a man to do anything after this, I did not 
talk to him of nationalities, liberties, or double wages, but gave him a 
rather sharp order, and if it was not obeyed on the dojible-quick, the 
delinquent found himself in limbo. Democracies may do for land, but 



THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEAKSARGE. 



289 



rnonarclaes, and pretty absolute monarchies, are tlie only successful gov- 
ernments at sea."(") 

Thus, off the Azores, the Alahama began her career, spreading her 
sails and starting her engines, to destroy the unarmed ships of the North- 
ern merchants, in order to build a government and establish a nation 
which should be an aristocracy," with slavery as its foundation, Tlie offi- 
cers were nearly all from the South, but the men were mostly English, 
Welsh, or Irish. 

What was the status of this vessel thus flying the Confederate flag, and 
how shall she be classified ? Semmes had a commission as captain in the 
Confederate navy. The Alahama was an English-built vessel ; she never 




THE "ALABAMA." 



had been in a Confederate port; her crew were English; her guns were 
made in English founderies ; her engines in an Englisli machine-shop ; all 
her supplies were from England ; the powder in her magazine, the shot in 
lier locker, Avere of English manufacture. She was English built, equipped, 
and manned. 

The next day the man upon the lookout aloft sang out : " Sail, ho !" 
It was the whaling ship Ocmulgee, wliich had captured a whale, and the 
crew were cutting out the blubber. Little did the men at work think that 
the neat, new, and trim steamer approaching them with the Stars and 
Stripes, which had been run up by Semmes, instead of the flag of the Con- 
federacy, was a privateer. When the Alabama was close upon the whaler 
19 



290 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

the Stars and Stripes came down, and tlie other went np. No need for sucli 
strategy, for the Ocmulgee could not have escaped. But it was Captain 
Senunes's way. In a few minutes all the valuable articles to be found on 
the ship, together with the crew, numbering thirty-seven, were transferred 
to the Alabama, and then the torch was applied, and the ship was quickly 
a mass of flame. 

The Alabama ran near one of the small islands, landed the captured 
crew, paroling them as if they had been captured from a ship-of-war. 
While the prisoners were being sent on shore, the man aloft shouted once 
more "Sail, ho!" The schooner Stadight, which had just left the port of 
Fayal for Boston, was passing the island with several ladies on board. The 
Alabama, \'\kQ. a fox stealing upon a lamb, hoisted the English flag, and 
ran out to capture the ship. The Starlight, unsuspicious of danger, kept 
on her course till a gun suddenly flamed. It was a blank shot. The cap- 
tain of the Starlight, instead of rounding to, thought that he could get 
within three miles of land, where he would be safe from capture, under 
international law, and kept on till a shot came across the deck of the 
schooner. The captain saw that he could not escape. The schooner's 
liead came into the wind, and the sails flapped against the masts. A few 
minutes later the captain and crew, numbering seven, were in irons on the 
Alabama. 

When the Confederate steamer Sumter was at Gibraltar the paymaster 
of that vessel went over to Tangier, in Africa, where, at the instigation of 
the American consul, he was arrested and delivered to the consul, under 
a treaty with Morocco, who sent him to the United States on the ship 
Harvest Home, the captain of which put him in irons. The arrest and 
the action of the captain of the ship were unwarranted. Semmes Avas de- 
termined to be revenged. He would make those unoffending sailors feel 
his power ; and not only these, but the crews of several other vessels %vere 
to be treated as if they were felons, thieves, and murderers. Other ves- 
sels, mostly whalers, were captured and burned. Whales at certain sea- 
sons of the year frequent the seas around the Azores, where they feed 
upon the food brought by the Gulf Stream and other ocean currents. 
Semmes knew that he would find vessels there, and nearly every day a 
great black column of smoke rose from a burning ship. 

Having destroyed nearly all the whaling vessels, the Alahama steered 
north-west, to burn the ships which were can-ying grain from New York 
to Liverpool. In six Vv'eeks she destroyed seventeen. He sent the crews 
to the Azores, and the ships to the bottom of the sea. One of the ships 
was the Tonawanda, with a large number of passengers, several of whom 



THE "ALABAMA" AND " KEARSARGE." 291 

were women. Senimes did not know what to do. He wanted to biirn the 
vessel, but could not bring so many women on board the Alahmna, for he 
had no room for them. He kept the ship until he captured another, and 
then sent the women and the captured crews to Boston. 

He says : " There being no claim by any neutral for the cargo, both 
ship and cargo were a good prize of war ; but unfortunately we could not 
burn the ship witliout encumbering ourselves with the passengers, and 
thirty of the sixty were women and children. I kept her cruising with 
me a day or two, hoping that I might fall in with some other ship of the 
enemy that might be less valuable, or might have a neutral cargo on board, 
to which I could transfer the passengers, and thus be enabled to burn 
her."(=') 

Captain Semmes experienced great pleasure in seeing the flames leap 
up the rigging of the noble ships which fell into his hands. The motives 
which animated him to carry on his work of destruction will be seen in 
the following quotation from his book : 

"We captured the whaling schooner Courser^ of Provincetown, Mass. 
Her master was a gallant young- fellow and a fine specimen of a seaman, 
and if I could have separated him in any way from the universal Yankee 
nation, I should have been pleased to spare his pretty little craft from 
the flames, but the thing was impossible. There were too many white-cra- 
vated, long-haired fellows bawling from the IsTew England pulpits, and 
too many house- burners and pilferers inundating our Southern land, to 
permit me to be generous ; and so I steeled my heart, as I had done on 
a former occasion, and executed the laws of war."(^) 

He captured the Brilliant, in regard to which he says: "I was much 
moved by the entreaties of the master to spare his ship. He was a hard- 
working seaman, who owned one-third of the vessel. He had built her, 
was attached to her, and she represented all his worldly goods. But I was 
forced to steel my heart. He was like other masters who had remon- 
strated with me — in the same boat with the political rascals who had 
egged on the war, and 1 told him he must look to those rascals for redress. 
The ship made a brilliant bonfire, lighting up the Gulf Stream for many 
miles around. Having been set on fire at night, and the wind falling to a 
calm, we remained in sight of the burning wreck nearly all night." (^) 

It was charged upon Semmes that he decoyed ships into his power by 
thus setting those captured on fire at night, so that other ships, seeing the 
light, would hasten to the rescue of those whom the sailors supposed were 
in distress. He denies this in his volume, and says that he never lay by a 
ship longer than to see her well on fire. 



292 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



We are not to forget that the South was fighting for the establishment 
of a government based on slavery. Captain Semmes carried out the idea 
practically. One of the captives on the Tonawanda was a negro boy, 
seventeen years old, owned by a gentleman from Delaware, who was on 
his way to England, and who had taken the boy along as his servant. 




RAPHAEL SEMMES. 



Under the laws of that State, the boy would be free when he was twenty- 
one. He would also be free the moment he reached England. Captain 
Semmes knew this, but he took the boy for a waiter. This is his reason : 
" The little State of Delaware, all of whose sympathies were with ns, had 
been ridden over rough-shod . by the vandals north of her, as Maryland 
afterwards was, and was arrayed on the side of the enemy. I was obliged. 



THE "ALABAMA" AND " KEARSARGE." 293 

therefore, to treat her as such. The slave was on his way to Europe with 
his master. He came necessarily under the laws of war, and I brought 
him on hoard the Alabama, where we were in want of good servants." (°) 

Captain Semmes had the power, and acted accordingly. Delaware, 
instead of giving her sympathies to the South, was loyal to the old flag 
from the beginning. He wanted a servant and took him. It was the 
spirit of slavery. 

Having captured a large number of vessels loaded with grain, and 
knowing that several United States war-ships would soon be after him, 
Semmes, who did not want to fight, but only to destroy instead, sailed 
south towards the AVest Indies, capturing, among other ships, the Wales, 
from India, on which were several ladies. That, however, did not deter 
him from setting the vessel on fire. He removed the ladies to the Alc(r 
hama, making his conduct meritorious from the fact that he permitted 
them to bring on board their wardrobes. One of the ladies was the daugh- 
ter of a general in the British army, married to an American gentleman, 
and had three children. What Captain Semmes would have done had he 
fallen in with the Kearsarge with these captives on board, we do not 
know; but he had no desire just then to encounter a w^ar vessel. 

Off St. Domingo the Alabama captured the Parker Cooke, of Boston. 
The following, from Captain Semmes's book, shows once more the spirit 
of the commander of the Alabama: "It was sunset, the twilight hour, 
when the breeze was dying away, that we applied the torch. As we filled 
away and made sail I could but moralize on the spectacle. Sixty years 
before, the negro had cut the throat of the white man, ravished his wife 
and daughters, and burned his dwelling in the island of St. Domingo, now 
in sight. The white man of another country was now inciting the negro 
to the perpetration of the same crimes against another white man, whom 
he called his brother. The white man thus inciting the negro was the 
Puritan of New England, whose burning ship was lighting up the shores 
of St, Domingo. 

"That Puritan, only a generation before, had entered into a solemn 
league and covenant to restore to the Southern man his fugitive slave, if 
he should escape into his territory. This was the way he was keeping his 4. 

plighted faith. Does any one wonder that the Alabama burned New 
England ships ?"(') 

Bitterness and hate grow by what they feed on. AVhen Captain 
Semmes began the work of destruction, in command of the Sumter, there 
were some qualms of conscience — an unwillingness and reluctance to take a 
crew from a ship, strip them of all except the clothes on their backs, and 



40/ 



294 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

consign a noble vessel to flames. There was so much of the highwayman 
Jibout the transaction that his better nature revolted ; but as vessel after 
vessel fell into his hands, the reluctance gave place to an unquenchable 
desire to burn and destroy. 

His book was written in 1S6D, four years after the war. Were he liv- 
ing, it is charitable to believe that he would wish it had never been writ- 
ten ; but it presents a true picture of the motives, feelings, and actions of 
the men who attempted to build a nation with slavery for its corner-stone. 

In December, Captain Semmes made his way from the West Indies 
westward into the Gulf of Mexico. He had two objects in view — one to 
waylay one of the California steamers, with the expectation of getting 
possession of a million dollars or inore in gold ; the other, to intercept 
the expedition under General Banks, on its way to the Mississippi. 
Captain Semmes put himself in the path of the California steamers, and 
waited for his prey. He soon had the satisfaction of seeing a large 
steamer approaching, but it was steering south instead of north ; it was 
the Ai'iel, bound to Panama, with a great number of passengers, many 
of wliom were women and children. Captain Semmes says : " I was very 
anxious to destroy this ship, as she belonged to Mr. Vanderbilt, an old 
steamboat captain, who had amassed a large fortune in trade, and was a 
bitter enemy of the South." (*) He kept the Ariel several days, hoping 
that another ship would come along to take her passengers, so that he 
could burn her ; but none came, and he was obliged to let the vessel go on 
her way. 

The engines of the Alahama were repaired, and her course was taken 
across the Gulf to Galveston. 

The story of the engagement with the Hatteras, one of the block- 
ading fleet, has already been told (" Marching to Victory," p. 39). After 
the easy victory over a ship that was no match for the Confederate ves- 
sel, Semmes entered the harbor of Kingston, Jamaica, landed his prisoners, 
and repaired his ship. Three English war-ships were there, the officers of 
which received Captain Semmes with great cordiality^ The Alahama had 
been built in England, and they had a pride in her. The sympathies of 
the English ofticers were all on the side of the South. They had not for- 
gotten that the pride of Great Britain had been humbled when the Coii- 
stitution, in 1812, sent the Guerriere to the bottom of the sea, and all the 
other victories of that war, which compelled her to resign her title of 
" Mistress of the Seas." 

Commerce has its highway on the ocean as well as on the land. Such a 
path lies along the coast of Brazil, where the ships sailing to that coun- 



THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEARSARGE." 295 

try, together with those that go round Cape Horn, those that come from 
the East Indies, and the Cape of Good Hope, find favoring winds and cur- 
rents. Captain Semmes had destroyed the whalers in the region of tlie 
Azores, the grain ships off Xewfoundhmd, and now he would carry de- 
struction to the fleets on this great South Atlantic highway. It would 
not do for him to remain long at Kingston, for in a few days the IS'orth 
would know it, and it might be difficult to get away. He sailed eastward. 

One day's sail brought him into the great highway, where he picked 
up the ship Golden Rule, which was soon in flames. This his exultant ac- 
count : " The islands of Santo Domingo and Jamaica were sufficiently near 
for their inhabitants to witness the splendid bonfire which lighted up the 
heavens soon after dark. A looker-on would have seen a beautiful picture ; 
for besides the burning ship there were the islands, sleeping in the dreamy 
moonlight, on the calm bosom of a tropical sea, and the rakish - looking 
' British Pirate ' steaming in for land, with every spar and line of cord- 
age brought out in bold relief by the bright flame, with the very ' pirates ' 
themselves visible, handling the bales and boxes of merchandise which 
they had 'robbed' from this innocent Yankee, whose countrymen at home 
were engaged in the Christian occupation of burning our houses and deso- 
lating our fields." (^) 

The next day the Chastelaine was captured, on the 3d of February 
was captured the Palmetto, and two days later the Olive Jane and the 
Golden Eagle. Senmies saw a great many other vessels, but they were 
of other nations. The man at the mast-head saw not less than seven ships 
at a time on this great -highway of the ocean. There w^as scarcely a day 
that an American vessel did not fall into the clutches of the Alahama, 
followed by the lighting up of the sea. 

Day after day the work of destruction went on as Semmes made his 
way slowly towards Brazil, running into the Island Fernando de Noronha, 
which lies just off the coast. xV i-emarkable peak rises from the sea, and, 
once seen, is always remembered by sailors. All vessels on the great high- 
w'ay take their bearings from it. Here Captain Semmes violated the neu- 
trality laws of nations by taking two of his captured vessels into port. 
While there, two American vessels came sailing towards the harbor, and 
disregarding all the laws of nations, he steamed out to capture them and 
set them on fire. For two months the Alahama hovered along the coast, 
t?king ten vessels. But it was time for Semmes to be gone, for he knew 
that a powerful and swift steamer was after him — the Vanderbilt. 

The course of the Alahama had been well predicted by the Navy De- 
partment at Washington, and the Vanderhilt was chosen to follow her, 



296 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

commanded by Captain Baldwin, who was ordered to hasten to the AVest 
Indies, and then go down the coast of Brazil and on to the Cape of Good 
Hope. He was at Martinique on the 28th of February. Rear-admiral 
Wilkes was in command of the United States fleet in the AVest Indies, 
and the Vanderhilt was so much nicer than his own ship that he took 
possession of her, holding her as his flag -ship. There cannot be much 
doubt that this interference with the plan of the Government enabled the 
Alabama to go on with her work of destruction. When the Secretary of 
the Navy learned that AYilkes had interfered with the plan, he was sum- 
marily ordered home, and had no other important service during the war. 

Having stayed as long as prudence dictated at Brazil, Semmes steered 
for the Cape of Good Hope. No need that w^e should follow the Ala- 
hama in her cruise in the Indian Ocean during the next six months. The 
Vanderbilt followed to the Cape of Good Hope, but was a month behind, 
in consequence of the detention of that steamer by Wilkes. The Wyo- 
nning was in the East Indies, but Semmes carefully avoided her. There 
were but few shi^JS for him to capture in those distant seas, and he turned 
back, stopped once more at the Cape, where he was treated with great con- 
sideration by the English officers, then made his way north, passing the 
Azores, capturing several vessels and setting them on tire. He steamed 
into the harbor of Cherbourg, on the northern coast of France. He did 
not quite dare to venture into an English home port, for possibly he would 
not be allowed to leave. The Alabama had been built in 
England ; she had a captain and officers who held commis- 
sions in the Confederate navy ; but the civilized world regarded England 
as, in fact, responsible for her. Some of the thinking men of Great Brit- 
ain, now that the armies of the North were winning victories, were begin- 
ning to see that a day of reckoning was coming in the future for Eng- 
land. Semmes intended to have the Alabama thoroughly repaired. The 
news of her arrival was quickly flashed to Paris, London, and all over Eu- 
rope, for the story of her exploits had been published far and wide. 

Opening our maps to Holland, we see the river Scheldt pouring its 
flood into the ocean through several mouths. A vessel flying the Stars 
and Stripes — the Kearsarge — was lying in one of the outlets opposite 
the village of Flushing. Some of the officers were on shore when, 
looking towards the ship, they saw a signal-flag flutter out at her mast- 
head, ordering them to return at once. They also saw the flash, and 
heard the roar of one of her guns, fired as a signal. Arriving on board, 
they were informed that Mr. Dayton, the American Minister at Paris, had 
sent a telegram that the Alabama w^as at Cherbourg. A few minutes 




cK 









THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEARSARGE." 



299 



later the propeller began to whirl, and the Kearsarcjc steamed west, with 
the lowlands of Holland on the port bow, and the white, chalky cliffs of 
Dover, in England, on the starboard. She steamed into the harbor of 
Cherbourg, but did not come to anchor, for were she to do so, and the 
Alahama go out, i\\Q Kecwsarge would be compelled to remain twenty-four 
hours. Her captain was careful not to be hampered in any 
way. The Kearsarge was named for a mountain in !New 
Hampshire, beneath the shadow of which Daniel Webster, the great de- 
fender of the Constitution was born. Her commander, John A. Winslow, 
was born in ISTorth Carolina, but, though his State had seceded, he re- 
mained true to the old flag. The crew of the Kearsarge were seamen 



June 14, 1864. 



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THE "KEARSARGE." 



who, when the war began, were on merchant vessels, but who had enlisted 
to defend their country. 

Backward and forward, now east, now west, the ship moved, with a 
man up in the foretop looking with his glass into the harbor, patiently 
waiting for the appearance of the ship which had done so much destruc- 
tion upon the seas, and brought poverty to so many homes. Captain 
Winslow determined that the Alabama should not escape from Cher- 
bourg as she did from Jamaica. 

But Captain Semmes did not intend to steal away. He could not af- 
ford to attempt it. He was in command of a ship built after a model 
prepared originally for an English gunboat. She had stolen away from 
an English port at the outset ; away from the San Jacinto at Kingston, 



300 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Jamaica, another Englisli port. She was armed with English guns ; the 
great majority of her crew were English. Captain Semmes had been ban- 
queted by officers of the English uavy in the West Indies, at the Cape of 
Good Hope, Gibraltar, Singapore, Liverpool, and London. He was re- 
garded as a hero. Clergymen of the Church of England had made him 
their welcome guest. Merchants had invited him to grand dinners. He 
was their benefactor, for through his destruction of the property of Amer- 
ican merchants they had been able to purchase a great fleet of swift-sailing 
ships for a song. Through the destruction of so many vessels they had 
become the world's carriers. The burning wrecks illuming midnight skies 
on lonely seas, reducing opulent families to beggary, had lighted their 
paths to fortune. 

There are times when men must show what stuff they are made of. 
Such a time had come to Semmes. Were he to steal away now, men who 
had fraternized with him might in the future pass him by without notice; 
for outside Cherbourg harbor was an antagonist, a ship almost the coun- 
terpart of the Alabama in size, armament, and crew. Were he to run 
awa}', people might think he was lacking courage. More than this, a good 
many people in Europe were beginning to see that the course pursued by 
the Alabama was not a manly method of warfare. 

In social circles, in the club-liouses of London and Paris, men whose 
sympathies sided with the Korth were likening the conduct of Semmes 
in waylaying peaceful, defenceless vessels to the bandit who steals upon 
his victim, or the prowler who robs a house and fires it at night. A 
ship was a seaman's home ; he had no other. On shipboard only could he 
obtain bread for himself and family. In burning a ship Semmes might 
injure the American merchants, but at the same time he was doing griev- 
ous injury to a great many sailors who were not Americans, who were 
earning bread for themselves and families by shipping on American ves- 
sels. Even if Semmes had acted strictly in accordance with the laws of 
nations, which he had not, his setting men on shore in out-of-the-way^ 
places, without food for more than a day or two, without clothing, with- 
out means of any kind to save themselves from starvation — men who were 
Hot fighting against the South, who were not American citizens — was ab- 
horrent to the advancing humanity of the age. It was not sufficient for 
Semmes to say' in excuse that the armies of the North were burning 
Southern homes. A ship was not like a house on shore. If the house 
were destroyed the land was still there, and harvests might still be grown 
and reaped, and there were kind neighbors to supply the homeless and 
destitute. 



THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEARSARGE." 301 

For the sailor whose ship had made "a beautiful bonfire" there was 
no sheltering home, no helping hand, no food, no sympathy from the men 
who had fired their vessels. It is possible that Serames, on his passing 
the Azores, over the waters where the Alahama began her work of de- 
struction, experienced a momentary depression of spirits. There is an un- 
dertone of melancholy in the pages of his book, as if the memories of the 
past were not altogether satisfactory. He knew that the prospects of the 
South were waning. Grant had taken Vicksburg ; Gettysburg had been 
fought. All England knew that the resources of the South were rapidly 
diminishing ; that the North was redoubling its energies. Men who had 
been enthusiastic for the South were beginning to see that it was only a 
question of time when the Confederacy would disappear, and that pos- 
sibly there might come a time when John Bull would have to make 
some apology or reparation to the United States for what the Alahama 
had been doing ; or that possibly the time might come when privateers 
of other natior.s would be lighting wi tlie ocean with bonfires of British 
ships. 

Semmes knew that it would be difiicult for him to get away from the 
Kearsarge^ eying with sleepless vigilance the narrow entrance to the har- 
bor. There is no evidence that he desired to steal away. He knew that 
he must fight or suffer loss of prestige and character. He did not send a 
challenge direct to Captain AVinslow, but wrote a letter to a gentleman in 
Cherbourg, saying that after he had made repairs he intended to go out 
and engage the Kearsarge. The telegraph flashed the information to Paris 
and London, and those who desired to see the battle hastened to Clier- 
bourg. Four days passed, in which Semmes was getting ready for battle, 
sending all valuable articles on shore — chronometers, watches, and gold 
captured from the vessels burned. The coal-bunkers were filled, to pro- 
tect the engines. All Cherbourg was buzzing with the news that there ^ 
was to be a battle which everybody would be able to see. The news was 
flashed again to Paris and London. Men talked about it in the cafes, and 
rushed to the cars, which whirled them to Cherbourg. 

Saturday morning came. The ofiicers of the French navy at Cher- 
bourg invited Semmes to a dinner-party, together with some of his offi- 
cers. The talk was of the battle which Semmes informed them he in- 
tended to fight. He was confident of winning the victory. He would 
either sink the Kearsarge or add another vessel to the Confederate navy. 
It is not quite easy to see what grounds Semmes had for his confident 
expectations. He had never been in a battle save in the attack upon the 
Hatteras, which was no match for the Aldbamd. He did not know from 



302 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

experience the quality of liis crew in battle. He only knew tliey were 
a reckless, rollicking set, whom he had controlled by his iron will. 

Quite likely the capture of so many merchant ships without I'esistance 
led Semmes to overrate his own strength and to underrate that of the 
Kearsarge. Possibly, also, the contempt which he had for the men of 
the North, in common with the people of the South, at the beginning 
of the war, that one Southerner was equal to five Yankees, had its effect. 
The officers drank their wine, and assured the French officers that they 
would celebrate the victory on Sunday night at a grand dinner. 

On the Kearsarge., this Saturday night, the officers were talking of the 
battle which they expected might be fought, though they did not know 
what Semmes's intentions might be. They expected it to be a hard-fought 
contest. There was no boasting ; they were not confident of winning the 
victory, but they had one resolution — to go to the bottom of the sea before 
they would surrender the ship to a craft that had done so much damage, 
and which had the character of a corsair rather than that of a ship-of- 
war. C") The Kearsarge was ready, and had been throughout the week, 
with her pivot-guns pointed starboard, shot and shell, grape and canister 
all piled beside the guns. 

When Admiral Farragut ran past the forts below New Orleans, he 
hung his chain-cables in loops along the sides of his ships to protect them. 
Captain Winslow, more than a year before, hung his spare chains up and 
down the sides of the Kearsarge., and covered them with light planking, 
painted like the rest of his ship. His coal-bunkers were not full, and the 
chains might be some protection to the machinery. 

Let us look at the two vessels on this Saturday night — one thoroughly 
English, though officered by Confederates ; the other thoroughly Ameri- 
can. They are almost exactly of the same size — the Alabama of 1016 
tons, the Kearsarge 1031 tons. This was their respective armament : 
Alabama., six long 32-pounders, one rifled 100-pounder, one 8-inch shell 
gun — eight guns. Kearsarge., four short 32-pounders, two 11-inch smooth- 
bore pivots, one 30-pounder rifle — seven guns. 

Though the Confederate vessel has one more gun than the Union ship, 
the seven solid shot of the latter, if they could be thrown at the same mo- 
ment, would be sixty pounds heavier than the eight solid shot of the 
Alahama I but in the coming contest the Kearsarge would be able to use 
only five guns, so that the weight of the shot would be nearly equal. Dis- 
cipline, coolness, precision, were to be factors in a contest where everything 
else was so evenly matched. Patriotism would also come in. The crew of 
the one were Britishers, wlio had enlisted for adventure, prize-money, and 



THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEAESARGE." 



303 




CAPT. JOHN A. "WINSLOW. 



loot: tliey cared very little for tlie Confederacy or its flap^; while the men 
on the other looked np to the flag above them as the brightest banner in 
the world. They had not enlisted for pay ; they conld make more money 
catching codfish. They had not enlisted with the expectation of obtain- 
ing plunder, but to serve their country. 

Sunday morning. The sunshine falls upon a glassy sea. There is lit- 
tle wind to ruffle the water. The Kearsarge is off the northern entrance 
to the breakwater, three miles from land. Her decks have 
been holy- stoned and washed, the brass- work around the 
wheel and binnacle rubbed and polished. The crew are in their Sunday, 
muster suits. They have been inspected. It is ten o'clock, the hour for 



June 19, 1864. 



304 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

religions service. The bell is tolling. Captain Winslow is ready to begin 
the reading of prayers. 

" The Alabama is coming !" The man i;p in the foretop-gallant shonts 
it. The officer of the deck repeats it. The drummer beats to arms. Cap- 
tain Winslow lays aside the prayer-book and grasps his speaking-trumpet. 
A moment ago the men were standing reverently in worship ; now they 
are beside their guns, with jackets thrown aside, ready for action. 

The Kearsarge turns her bows seaward, but she is not going to run 
away. Captain Winslow intends that the contest shall be so far from land 
that the French Government shall not have cause for complaint or inter- 
ference, and also that the Alahama shall not have a chance to run back to 
the harbor in case she is crippled. As for the Kearsarge^ she is to go to 
the bottom, or win the victory. (") 

Cherbourg harbor is alive with boats. Every fisherman has hoisted 
the sails of his little craft. The French ship-of-war Couronne is steaming 
alongside the Alahama to see that she goes beyond the three-mile limit. 
When it is reached, the Couronne turns about and courteously retires, not 
staying to be a witness of the contest. The English yacht Deerhound fol- 
lows the Alahama. Her owner and his family are on board : his sympa- 
thies are with the South. His children want to see the battle, and he 
wishes to gratify them. ('^) What a scene along the shore! — thirty thou- 
sand men, women, and children clustering on the beach or on the house- 
tops, gazing seaward. The sweet-toned bells up in the cathedral tower 
are tolling for service, but the priests chant the mass alone. 

It is almost eleven o'clock when the Kearsarge^ seven miles from land, 
turns in a circle, and, bringing her bow towards the shore, steers for the 
Alahanna. There are moments 'when men hold their breath, when their 
hearts beat like sledge-hammers, when every faculty is at the utmost ten- 
sion. Such a moment has come to the sailors on the deck of the Kear- 
sarge. The vessels are three-fourths of a mile apart, when the Alabamii 
opens fire. Had we been on board the Alahama we should have seen offi- 
cers wearing their uniforms, and the crew neatly dressed. Every needful 
preparation had been made for the' contest ; the decks cleared. '' The ship 
is ready for action, sir," said the executive officer, Mr. Kell, saluting Cap- 
tain Semmes. " Send all hands aft,'' said the captain, who, standing on a 
gun-carriage, made a speech to the crew, who responded with cheers. Cap- 
tain Winslow thought that the Alahama intended to fight the battle at 
long range. " More steam," was his order, and the Kearsarge surged 
through the water, rapidly narrowing the distance between the vessels. 
Ao;ain the cannon of the Alahama flamed. Still no answer from the 



THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEARSARGE." 307 

Kearsarge, whose guns had been loaded with shells the fuses of which 
Avere cut to explode in five seconds. Nine hundred yards — half a mile — 
and the 11-inch starboard guns break the silence. Broadside to broadside 
are the two vessels steaming in circles, each using her starboard guns. 
The tide drifts westward. A shot carries awaj a rope on the Alabama, 
and the flag comes down upon the run. The sailors on the Kearsarge 
regard it as a good omen, and give a cheer. ('^) 

But the battle had only just begun, and the flag again fluttered in the 
breeze at the mizzen of the Alabama, whose guns were fired rapidly ; but 
the gunners, in their excitement, did not take good aim. Kot so the firing 
of i\\Q Kearsarge. "Take direct aim. Aim the heavy guns below the 
water-line. Sweep the Alabamans decks with the lighter guns," the in- 
structions to the gunners. ('*) 

The men of the Kearsarge watched their sliells as they sped through 
the air. 

" That's a good one ! Hurrah ! Give her another like the last ! Now 
we have her ! Hurrah !" they shouted, and rammed down the cartridges. 

Eleven o'clock and fifteen minutes. A 68-pounder shell crashes through 
the starboard bulwark of the Kearsarge, explodes with terrible concussion, 
wounding three of the men working the aft pivot-gun. The men are car- 
ried below to tlie surgeon so quietly that those in the forecastle do not 
know that any one has been injured. Two shots enter the ports, but do 
no injury. Another shell explodes on board. " The ship is on fire !" is 
the cry ; but it is quickly extinguished. 

On board the Alabama Captain Semmes is by the mizzen-mast with 
his spy-glass, watching the effect of the shot upon the Kearsarge. He 
sees a shell strike and fall into the water. He does not discover the chain 
cables which Captain Winslow has hung against the side of the ship. 
"Use solid shot, Mr. Kell ; the shells fall into the water," (") he says to the 
executive officer ; and solid shot and shell alternately spin across the water 
from the guns of the Alabama. The 11-inch shells of the Kearsarge are 
making fearful havoc the while. Three successively explode, killing and 
wounding several of the men. The great guns of the Kearsarge, aimed 
below the water-line of the Alabama, have pierced her sides and the 
water is pouring in through the shot-holes, and the vessel begins to settle. 
Captain Semmes sees that the battle is going against him. " Be ready to 
make all sail possible," his order to Mr. Kell. The decks are strewn witli 
killed and wounded, and slippery with blood. So many are killed that 
Mr. Kell directs the crew to throw the mangled bodies into the sea. Sails 
are hoisted and the bowsprit turned towards the shore. 



308 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

" The fires are out, the engine will not work," said the cliief engineer, 
coming on deck. 

" Go below, Mr. Kell, and see how long the ship can float," said Cap- 
tain Senimes. Mr. Kell goes down the gangway into the wardroom, where 
stands the assistant-surgeon, Mr. Llewellyn, an Englishman. A wounded 
sailor is lying on the table, and the surgeon is dressing the wounds, when 
an 11-inch shell crashes through the side of the ship, and table and sailor 
are hurled across the room. 

Mr. Kell sees that the water is pouring in, and runs upon the deck. 
"We cannot keep afloat ten minutes," he shouts. 

" Cease firing. Shorten sail. Haul down the colors ! It will not do 
for us to go down with our decks covered with wounded," are the words 
of Semmes.C") 

The colors of the Alabama came down, and the Kearsarge ceased 
firing. Captain Winslow, to prevent the Alabama from reaching the 
shore, steamed ahead, and was in position to pour in a raking fire. Accord- 
ing to the report of Captain Winslow, the Alabama again fired. " He is 
playing us a trick ; give him another broadside," he said, and again the 
cannon of the Kearsarge sent their shells into the sinking ship. (") 

" Show a white flag," was the order from Semmes, and the quarter-mas- 
ter ran up a white flag on the stern. " Send a boat and an officer to the 
Kearsarge^ and tell them that we are sinking," was the order of Semmes 
to Mr. Kell, and the quartermaster's mate jumped into the small-boat, the 
only one not injured, and hastened to the Kearsarge^ while another boat, 
not badly injured, was lowered, and the wounded placed in it. 

Lower in the water settles the Alabama. Captain Semmes is at the 
stern. " Every man for himself," is his last order. The stern is almost 
to the water's edge. With a life-preserver on, and throwing his sword 
into the sea, he drops overboard and swims towards the Deerhound, which 
has been watching the contest and which is steaming up. With a lurch, 
at 12.24 o'clock, the Alabama goes down beneath the waves. 

"For God's sake do wdiat you can to save them!" shouted Captain 
Winslow to Mr. Lancaster, owner of the Deerhound., and the boats of the 
yacht were quickly lowered, picking up Captain Semmes, Mr. Kell, twelve 
other officers, and twenty-six men. The boats of the Kearsarge were 
quickly lowered, and rescued all that could be found — about seventy. The 
owner of the Deerhound had been requested by Captain Winslow, in the 
interest of humanity, to save the struggling men, but having picked up 
Captain Semmes, and nearly all the officers, instead of coming alongside 
the Kearsarge, he began to move away. 



THE ''ALABAMA" AND "KEAESARGE." 



309 



" She is steaming away. Why not send a shot after her ?" said an 
officer. 

" Oh no ; she is only coming ronnd. No Englishman flying the flag 
of the Royal Yacht Squadron would go away without communicating with 
me," said Captain Winslow. ('^) 

But his confidence was misplaced ; the Deerhound kept her course, 
her owner, senseless to the dishonorable act, carried the Confederate offi- 
cers to England, when 
by every principle of 
honor he was bound 
to remain alongside 
the Kearsarge. It 
was a British vessel, 
manned largely by 
Englishmen, which 
had been sunk, and 
his sympathy for the 
Confederacy and cha- 
grin over the discom- 




fiture of a British - 
built ship outweighed 
his better judgment 
and sense of honor. 

Very little damage 
had been done to the 
Kearsarge. One 100- 
pound shell lodged in 
the stern part wdiich, 
if it had exploded, 
quite likely would 
have left the ship 
unmanageable, and 
might have resulted 
in her going to the 

bottom of the sea instead of the AUibama. One of the Confederate 
officers, Lieutenant Armstrong, refused to go on board the Deerhoimd, 
when picked up by a French pilot-boat, but came and personally deliv- 
ered up his sword to Captain Winslow. 

In strong contrast to this noble action was the conduct of Mr. Fullam, 
who, after reporting to Captain Winslow that the Alabama was sinking, 



Arsen' 

•ft CiTEr.Bonr. 
Scale of Miles -4. 



N 



MOVEMENTS OF THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEARSARGE," 



310 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

asked permission to help save the men, and who promised to return to 
the Kearsarge, but who, instead, went on board the Deerhound. Captain 
Semmes had liauled down liis flag, and raised tlie white flag in token of 
surrender. " Where shall I land you ?" said the owner of the DeerJioimd 
to Captain Semmes. " I am now under English colors, and the sooner 
you put me with my ofiicers and men on English soil the better," lie re- 
plied. (") The Deerhound could not have picked him up except at the 
request of Captain Winslow ; he could not honorably avail himself of the 
opportunity to escape ; and his course, together with that of the owner of 
the yacht, will ever stand in dishonorable contrast to that of Lieutenant 
Armstrong. 

One of the crew of the aft pivot-gun of the Kearsarge was AVilliam 
Gowin, who was wounded. He fell upon the deck, but dragged himself 
towards the hatch, and was lowered to the surgeon's table. 

" Doctor, I can fight no more, and so come to you ; but it is all right. 
I am satisfied, for we are whipping the Alabama. I will willingly lose 
my leg." 

There was exultation throughout the United States when the news 
came that the Alabama was lying at the bottom of the sea; but in Eng- 
land there was chagrin and mortification among those who sympathized 
with the South, and who had rejoiced to know that the Alabama was 
lighting the sea with burning American vessels, thus bringing more com- 
merce to the ships of Great Britain. When Captain Semmes reached 
London he was invited to a banquet, received as a hero, and presented 
with a sword. 

During the months that the Alabama roamed the seas. Captain 
Semmes burned fifty ships, released ten on bond, changed one — the 
Conrad — into a tender to the Alabatna, and renamed it the Tuscaloosa,' 
one vessel was sold ; making in all sixty-two vessels. It was not merely 
the burning of the vessels which entailed loss upon the citizens of the 
United States, but it compelled the merchants to transfer their ships to 
parties in England, thus driving the American flag from the seas, and 
giving the commerce of the world into the hands of Great Britain, 
ISTearly a third of a century has gone by, and the United States, during 
the period, has not been able to recover what it thus lost through the 
destruction of ships by this vessel, which the British Government crimi- 
nally allowed to sail from Liverpool, against the oft-repeated protestations 
of the Government of the United States. Great Britain has acknowl- 
edged her culpability by the payment of fifteen million dollars, avrarded 
by the Conference of Arbitrators at Geneva in 1871, which settled all 



THE "ALABAMA" AND "KEARSARGE." 311 

matters in dispute ; but no court of claims can wipe out the sense of 
wrong and the indignation engendered in the United States against the 
Government of Great Britain during the career of tlie Alabama. Not 
till the Stars and Stripes are seen once more in just proportion in the 
carrying trade of the world, will the sense of wrong be wholly obliterated 
from the minds of the American people. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XL 

( ') Raphael Semraes, "Memoirs of Service Afloat," pp. 566, 409. 

464, 459, 465, 524, 535, 566. 
( ') Idem. 
( 3) Idem. 
( *) Idem. 
( 5) Idem. 
( «) Idem. 
( ') Idem. 
( «) Idem. 

( ^) J. M. Browne, Century Magazine, April, 1886. 
('») Idem. 

(") J. Mcintosh Kel], Century Magazine, April, 1886. 
('^) J. M. Browne, Century Magazine, April, 1886. 
('3) Idem. 

C*) J. Mcintosh Kell, Century Magazine, April, 1886. 
('5) Idem. 

('^) J. M. Browne, Century Magazine, April, 1886. 
(") Idem. 

('^) J. Mcintosh Kell, Century Magazine, 1886. 
(»'') Idem. 



312 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 

WE left the Army of the Potomac resting at Cold Harbor after its 
repulse and great loss of men in the attemj^t of General Grant to 
carry the Confederate intrenchments. While the army was thus at rest, 
while the cavalry under Sheridan was having an ensfagement with the 
Confederate cavalry, near Louisa Court-house and Trevilian's Depot, 
General Gillmore and General Kautz were moving quietly from Bermuda 
Hundred with the intention of seizing Petersburg. 

General Butler had laid a pontoon-bridge between Bermuda Hundred 
and City Point, across the Appomattox ; but he had not taken the precau- 
tion to cover the planks with grass or earth. The night was 

June 9, 1864. , i .,i i i , n i i i i i 

calm and stilJ, and wlien tlie cavahy horses and the wheels 
of the cannon came upon the planks, the trampling and rumbling were 
heard in Petersburg, and General Wise, who was in command of the Con- 
federates there, at once comprehended the meaning of it ; that it was a 
movement for the capture of that town. If seized, it would be a serious 
blow to Lee, for Wilmington, in North Carolina, was the only seaport 
wdiich blockade-runners bringing supplies from England could enter, ex- 
cept now and then a vessel, perchance, might slip into Charlestown. If 
Petersburg were lost, all supplies must come from Danville, and the 
south-west. General Beauregard, in front of Bermuda Hundred, had seen 
the danger. He had only a small force, most of his troops having been 
sent to Lee after the battle of Drewry's Bluff. Just before the pickets 
in front of Petersburg heard the trampling of the horses' hoofs on the 
bridge, Beauregard, at ten o'clock in the evening, sent this to General 
.Bragg, at Eichmond : "Pickets on the lower part of James Eiver report 
one steamer towing up canal-boats and pontoons ; also schooners going np 
heavily loaded, whereas those going down are light. This may indicate 
future operations of Grant." (') 

Before the army moved from Culpeper — before the battle of the Wil- 
derness — Grant had looked forward to the time when he might possibl / ' 

(' 

i 

I 



FEOM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 313 

be at Petersburg. In his tent at Cnlpeper lie had informed his private 
secretary of the possible outcome of his movements. When he was on the 
North Anna he said to those about him, "I feel that our final success 
over Lee's army is already insured." He was not aiming to take Rich- 
mond, but to defeat the Confederate army. Up to that time there had 
been a feeling in the Army of the Potomac that there was no commander 
under the Stars and Stripes quite able to inaugurate and carry out an 
aggressive and successful campaign against General Lee, but that feeling 
was gone ; and though there had been fearful loss of life at Cold Harbor, 
the soldiers had faith in their general. He had reached the Cliicka- 
hominy. Orders had already been issued for the sending of ]3ontoons 
up the James, and Beauregard's pickets had discovered the steamboats 
ascending the river with a long train of boats at their sterns. 

The James, below the Appomattox, is a wide, majestic stream, flowing 
south-easterly to the Chesapeake. Twelve miles below City Point is Wil- 
cox's Landing, three miles from Charles City Court-house. The river is 
two thousand one hundred feet wide, and eighty feet deep. This is the 
point which General Grant had selected, on the report of the engineers, 
as the place where the bridge of boats was to be placed. It is thirty-five 
miles from Cold Harbor, and twenty from Petersburg. It was a great 
problem which confronted Grant. How should he transfer the army, with 
all its artillery, wagons, and supplies, to the south side of the James with- 
out exposing it to attack from Lee, who had a very much shorter line, 
with a railroad by which he could quickly transport his troops ? Would 
not Lee, as soon as he discovered what w^as going on, transfer enough bri- 
gades to Bermuda Hundred to overwhelm the small force under Butler? 
McClellan was much praised for making a change of base from the Chicka- 
hominy to Harrison's Landing, a distance of ten miles. While doing it 
Lee pushed down the Charles City road, and attacked him. Would he not 
do the same now, with the army drawn out upon a thin line ? Would it 
be possible to withdraw the troops without their being attacked ? If 
Petersburg could be captured in advance it would greatly simplify the 
problem. It was to that end that the cavalry under Kautz, and the infan- 
try under Gillmore, were marching across the pontoon-bridge at Point of 
Rocks, on the Appomattox, at midnight. Kautz had one thousand five 
hundred horsemen, and Gillmore three thousand infantry. 

Had we been in Petersburg that morning of June 9tli, we should have 
seen a great commotion. General Wise was there with his brigade of two 
thousand. He called upon the citizens, to take their places in the ranks, 

and old men and boys were hastening to obey the orders, arming them- 

20—2 



•r 



314: REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

selves witli muskets. The convalescent Confederate soldiers in the hospi- 
tals were called out to stand guard in the breastworks. In the jail and 
guard-houses was a motley collection of criminals. The doors were un- 
locked, and they were hustled out, supplied with arms, and hurried to the 
intrenchments east of the city. General Wise called those from the hos- 
pitals his corps of "Patients"; those from the jails, " Penitents." (^) 

General Beauregard, in front of Bermuda Hundred, learned wliat 
was going on, and sent a brigade of cavalry, under General Bearing, 
which came later in the day upon a gallop across the Appomattox, rode 
through the city, and pushed south-east to meet Kautz. Wise had a bat- 
tery of artillery under Graliam. The Union force, all told, was not far 
from four thousand five hundred ; the Confederate, two thousand six hun- 
dred, with the advantage of position greatly on the side of the Confeder- 
ates. At seven o'clock in the morning Gillmore, with the infantry, was in 
front of the Confederate intrenchments. Kautz had gone south-west, and 
was five miles away. Gillmore examined the intrenchments, saw the sun- 
light glinting on the Confederate cannon. The Confederate " patients" 
and "penitents" were marching and countermarching along the breast- 
works, and he came to the conclusion that they were too strong to be 
assaulted. It was nine o'clock before Kautz was in position. After a short 
struggle he turned the Confederate flank, pushed on almost into the town, 
when Dearing, with the Confederate cavalry, confronted him. At that 
moment Gilhnore, having heard nothing from the Union cavalry, began 
his return to City Point, the movement a failure, with nothing attempted, 
no assault, no manifestation of energy, and the i-esult a complication which 
made the movement of the army much more difficult than it otherwise 
would have been, and enabled Beauregard to hold the city, the loss of 
which would soon have compelled Lee to evacuate Richmond. 

General Grant had not only the James, but the Chickahominy, to cross. 
Eight miles from Cold Harbor was Bottom's Bridge. Long Bridge was 
fifteen miles, Jones's twenty miles, and Windsor twenty-four miles dis- 
tant, all of which had been destroyed. Two miles below Bottom's Bridge 
the creek M'hich winds through White Oak Swamp empties into the Chick- 
ahominy, How to get the army across the two streams, how to get troops 
to Butler sufficient to hold Bermuda Hundred, how to cover tlie move- 
ment, were the three features of the problem. The Eighteenth Corps, 
under Smith, which had come to Cold' Harbor from Butler by York River, 
was the first to move, going by the same route, marching in the night, 
having the right of way over everything else. The soldiers reached White 
House, went down York River, and up the James, before Lee learned 



FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 315 

of their departure. A brigade of cavalry, under Wilson, crossed the 
Chickahominy, and moved np the roads towards Richmond. Pontoons 
were laid, and the Fifth Corps, under "Warren, the Second, under Han- 
cock, crossed at Long Bridge, Warren following the cavalry. The Sixth 
Corps marched towards Jones's Bridge, while the long lines of wagons 
went farther down, to Windsor, crossed the stream, and then made their 
way towards Windmill Point, all moving like clock-work. 

It was one o'clock on the morning of June 13th when the pontoons 
were laid at Long Bridge. A few moments later the cavalry were mov- 
ing up the road to Piddel's shop, near which three roads 

June 13, 1864. ,. „ , ,. ■■ -r,. ■, 

diverge, all leading towards Kichmond. Ihey came upon 

the Confederate cavalry at the shop, and just at daylight there was the 

rattle of carbines ; but Warren, with two divisions of the Fifth Corps, was 

close at hand, which made their way a short distance up the Charles City 

and Central roads, driving the Confederates. While this was going on, the 

Second Corps crossed the Chickahominy, and inarched straight on towards 

the James, paying no attention to the rattle of musketry up by Eiddel's. 

The soldiers took the long swinging step which carried them rapidly on, 

and at five in the afternoon were at Wilcox's Landing. At the same hour 

the Fifth was at St. Mary's Church, covering the movement of the Sixth 

and Ninth corps from Jones's Bridge. At live o'clock on 
June 14, 18G4. . ,■ , . . , , 

the next aiternoon the entire army, with the trains, were on 

the bank of the James, It was four o'clock that afternoon when the en- 
gineers, under Major Duane, began to put the pontoons in place. Vessels 
were anchored above with strong cables trailing from their sterns, to which 
the boats were fastened. The river was so wide that one hundred and one 
boats were needed. So well had everything been planned by the engi- 
neers that at midnight the last plank was in place, and the bridge ready 
for the crossing. Before it was completed, the Second Corps, under Gen- 
eral Hancock, began to cross on ferry-boats, and at four o'clock in the 
morning of the 15th the whole of that corps and four batteries were on 
the southern bank. 

When the sun rose on the morning of the 13th the Confederate 
pickets at Cold Harbor found no men in blue before them. A little later 
General Lee learned that Grant was advancing upon Richmond south of 
the Chickahominy. He had no suspicion of the real movement, and sent 
Anderson's corps down the Charles City road, while A. P. Hill's corps 
crossed the Chickahominy and moved down to Riddel's shop, but when 
Hill arrived there he found that the Fifth Corps was no longer there. 

Little things, quite as often as great things, overturn the best laid 



316 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

plans. The wagons of tlie Second Corps had not arrived. General Grant 
had seen that they could not reach Wilcox's Landing until some hours 
after the troops. He had issued orders to General Butler to liave sixty 
thousand rations there for General Hancock, Upon receiving them, Han- 
cock was to march as rapidly as possible towards Petersburg, to a point 
where the Norfolk Railroad crosses Harrison's Creek. Hancock had twen- 
ty thousand men, and the rations would last him three days. But the sup- 
plies were not there. General Meade, at 7.30 on the morn- 
ing of the 15th, ordered Hancock to move without waiting 
for his rations. The signal-oflScer who received the despatch did not im- 
mediately deliver it, and it was not till 10.30 that the troops began the 
seventeen -mile march which would take them to their assigned position. 
This was a serious delay, as we shall presently discover. 

We have seen the Eighteenth Corps steaming down the York and up 
the James. It reached its old camp at Bermuda Hundred just as the sun 
was setting on the 14th. The troops had rested on the steamer, and were 
fresh and vigorous. General Smith was ordered to move at daylight on 
the 15th from Point of Rocks, on the Appomattox, following General 
Kautz, who was directed to start at once, but who did not move till morn- 
ing. Smith was to seize the intrenchments at Petersburg. He had, with 
the cavalry, seventeen thousand men. General Hancock had not been in- 
formed that Smith was to move, which was a serious error. Hancock was 
moving towards what he supposed to be Harrison's Creek ; but the map 
was wrong, and he took a road several miles longer than the one he other- 
wise would have taken. 

Smith had only six miles to march. "We see him moving south, the 
colored troops, under General Hinks, marching from City Point. Two 
miles, and Kautz came upon the Confederates, who fired upon the ad- 
vancing skirmishers. Two miles farther, and a battery of artillery 023ened 
fire from behind a breastwork. It was nearly noon before the troops of 
General Hinks were in position to attack the battery. It was to be the 
first battle of the colored soldiers, who, a few months before, were in sla- 
very. It had been no light task to enlist and discipline them. Men 
who hated them because they were negroes predicted that they would 
run like sheep the moment they heard the whistling of bullets or the 
thunder of cannon. They are in the edge of a piece of woods facing west ; 
before them is a cleared field. On the farther side they see a bank of 
earth, with four cannon and soldiers behind it. The shells come crash- 
ing through the trees around them. They do not flinch, but move out 
of the woods in a compact line. With a yell they rush across the field. 






B § 



3- c^ 

3 a 






3 =! 

P o 




FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 319 

There is a quick limbering up of cannon by the Confederates, the drivers 
lasliing their horses to a run. Tlie troops rush upon the liindmost, shoot- 
ing the liorses and capturing the piece. The air resounds witli their tri- 
umphant shouts. They pat the muzzle of the captured gun, mount the 
carriage, swing their caps, and make the air ring with cheers. (') 

They had proved their manhood. Nortliern opposers of the war, who 
had denounced the enlistment of negroes, were silenced by the exhibi- 
tion of their manhood at Wagner, Fort Pillow, and Petersburg. By their 
bravery and discipline they won the respect of the army, silenced their 
opponents, and accomplished great things for their race. 

Let us go now into the Confederate lines and take a survey of affairs. 

At eight o'clock in the morning General Beauregard sent a telegram to 

Lee, informing him that a deserter had come into his lines 

June 14, 1864. . , i • c . -r> i 

with the information that Butler had been reinforced by 
the arrival of Smith. Beauregard was at Swift Creek, three miles north 
of Petersburg. He had only Wise's brigade and two regiments of cav- 
alry, the citizens of Petersburg, and the men from the jail — in all, about 
twenty-seven hundred men, wipi twenty-two pieces of light artillery and 
heavy cannon. The entire force under Beauregard south of Kichmond 
was about six thousand. (') Slaves, during preceding months, had con- 
structed a line of earthworks, beginning at the Appomattox, north-east of 
the city, and extending south, then west, round to the river— a line seven 
miles in length. Wise placed his troops behind the breastworks east and 
south of the town, leaving those on the south-west for a distance of four 
miles wholly undefended. 

Hoke's division, which was at Drewry's Bluff, had been ordered to 
hasten to Petersburg. It started at six in the morning; the distance 
was eighteen miles. It reached Petersburg after sunset. General Lee, 
with his whole army, the while, was on the north bank of the James, his 
lines extending from Malvern Hill, where he had been defeated in 1862, 
north to White Oak Swamp, General Beauregard was sending telegrams 
and messages to him, informing him that Grant was moving in force upon 
Petei-sburg, Lee did not credit the reports. 

It was noon when the Union cavalry skirmishers approached Peters- 
burg, They discovered a line of works two miles east of the city, with a 
formidable array of cannon. General Smith arrived and reconnoitred. 
He saw a broad valley, with the Appomattox on the north. East of the 
city, where he was about to attack, were ravines, ditches, breastworks, and 
fallen trees. The ground in front was swept by a cross-fire of the artil- 
lery. General Smith could see few Confederate troops, but more than 



320 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

twenty cannon beliind the breastworks opened fire, and he thonglit that 
with so many gnns in position there must be a large body of troops at 
hand. It took a long time to look over the ground, and to decide where 
it was best to attack. He sent Martindale's division towards the Appo- 
mattox to form the right, placed Brooks's division in the centre and 
Hinks's on the left, with the cavalry, dismounted, still farther on the 
left. The Confederate artillery had such a sweep, he decided to mass 
his own artillery in the centre, and after silencing the Confederate can- 
non, to send forward a strong skirmish line to capture the works. Heavy 
artillery -firing was going on against Kautz. Time w'as flying, the day 
fast waning. It was five o'clock before he had made up his mind what 
to do, and when the order was given for the artillery to wheel into posi- 
tion and open fire, it was found that the horses had been sent to the rear 
to be watered, and it was past six o'clock before they returned. Precious 
every moment to the Confederates ! Through the day Wise had kept up 
as best he could an appearance of strength. Hoke's division, which started 
from Drewry's Bluff at six in the morning, had not arrived. C*) 

Going down now to Prince George Court-house, four miles from 
Smith's position, we see General Hancock receiving a message from 
Grant, who was at City Point, informing him that he must march as 
rapidly as possible to reinforce Smith. Hancock had been hunting for 
the railroad crossing at Harrison's Creek, to which he was ordered, but 
had not been able to find it, because his map was wrong. This was the 
first intimation he had received that Smith was about to make an attack. 
He turned towards Petersburg. Birney's division was in advance, and 
reached Smith just before he was ready to attack. 

The sun was going down at the moment. The skirmishers met a 
sharp fire, but worked their way on, rushing at last upon the intrench- 
ments. The brunt of the fire came upon the colored troops. They did 
not quail, though more than five hundred were killed and wounded. As 
in the forenoon, they went resolutely into the fight, and astonished the 
army by their steadiness under a galling and destructive fire. Five redans 
were captured, with sixteen pieces of artillery. The colored troops were 
the first inside the works. They seized four of the cannon and wheeled 
them upon the retreating Confederates. Three hundred prisoners were 
captured. 

At the hour of 8 p.m. no reinforcements had reached the south side 
of the Appomattox to aid the Confederates in holding the city. Smith 
had only to press on, make one more determined assault with his whole 
line, reinforced now by two divisions of the Second Corps, and the Con- 




GENERAI. GRANT AT CITY POINT. 



FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 323 

federates would be swept out of Petersburg. Why did not General Smith 
see that he had come to the suj^reme moment of his life? His troops had 
not suffered greatly. They had marched only six miles ; had lain upon 
the ground while the Confederate shells had been hurled at them ; had 
suffered a tension of nerve, which had made them all the more ready to 
iinish the victory by sweeping the Confederates into tiie Appomattox. 
He asked Hancock to relieve his troops while he retired. And so we have 
the spectacle of thirty thousand Union troops lying down to rest witli less 
than two thousand five hundred Confederates before them, who had been 
driven from their outer works, and who were ready to flee once more be- 
fore a determined advance of the overwhelming force in their front ! The 
great opportunity went by never to return. 

Of the failure General Hancock said in his report, written the follow- 
ing week : " It should have been captured by the Eighteenth Corps, which 
was directed to assault the town with, I believe, fifteen thousand men ; and 
certainly with the assistance of the two divisions of the Second Corps, 
which I offered to General Sujitli just after dark on the 15tli, these two di- 
visions being massed at Bryant's house, on the left and rear of General 
Hinks's division, about one mile from General Smith's line. Had I arrived 
before dark, and been able to have seen the general myself, I should have 
taken decisive action." (") 

Great events hang on little things. Whoever studies the history of 

the war will see it very often. The Second and Eighteenth corps were in 

front of the Confederate works at Petersburg, the colored 

June 10, 1864. tit i i • i i i i i /-i 

troops holding those which tliey had captured. General 
Hancock was now in command. He had his own corps and the Eighteenth 
Corps, fully thirty-five thousand men. The !Nintli Corps would be up by 
noon, and the Fifth before night. What Smith failed to accomplish was 
now within Hancock's grasp, as we shall presently see. It was a little 
thing that turned the scale and lost the second great opportunity to take 
Petersburg. It was the breaking-out afresh of the wound which Hancock 
received at Gettysburg. For six weeks the commander of the Second 
Corps had been in the saddle, directing the movements of his troops in 
the march or on the field of battle. The constant action, the loss of vital 
force from lack of sleep, the physical and mental strain, had told upon his 
system, and during the movement from Cold Harbor he had been com- 
pelled to ride in an ambulance, suffering intense pain. Pieces of bone 
were, on the morning of this 16th day of June, protruding through the 
flesh, rendering him incapable of directing the movements of the troops 
in person to the extent of seeing to the details, as was his custom. 



32 i REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

At midniglit lie issued liis orders to liis division commanders to seize 
all important points at daylight. Instead of moving at that hour, it was 
past eight o'clock, the sun three hours high, before there was any advance. 
General Birney was near the house of Mr, Avery, and might have occupied 
an advantageous position at daylight which at eight o'clock was held 
by the Confederates. General Egan's brigade moved to the assault of a 
redoubt behind which at daylight there was not a Confederate soldier. 
After a sharp struggle it was carried, but the division could make no 
further advance. It was sent towards the left to reconnoitre. General 
Meade arrived at noon and assumed command, General Jlancock having 
been obliged to hand over the corps to General Birney. The Ninth Corps 
arrived, and the troops at hand numbered nearly fifty thousand. The after- 
noon wore away before General Meade was ready to attack. It was six 
o'clock when the three divisions of the Second Corps — Birney 's. Barlow's, 
and Gibbon's — advanced, supported by two brigades of the Eighteenth 
and two of the Ninth. They captured three redoubts after a severe strug- 
gle, which could have been taken at daylight with but little opposition. 

No censure can be cast upon Hancock, for he was unable to be in the 
saddle in the morning; but it is plain that his division commanders were 
dilatory in the execution of their orders. Had Grant demanded of Smitli 
the utmost energy ; had Hancock set forth the same in his orders to his 
subordinates, or had Meade ordered a general advance of all the troops at 
one o'clock, far different, in all probability, would have been the issue of 
events. 

General Beauregard, seeing that Grant's movement was wholly against 
Petersburg, ordered Johnson's division, which was holding the intrench- 
ments in front of Bermuda Hundred, to hasten south of the Appomat- 
tox. (') Lieutenant - colonel Greeley, of the Tenth C/onnecticut, was in 
command of the Union pickets at Bermuda Hundred. It was a bright, 
moonlight night. His ears were open to every sound, his eye quick to see 
all that was going on. He could hear a trampling of feet behind the 
breastworks. Creeping on his hands and knees, he came close up to the 
Confederate pickets, and could see that the troops were moving away. He 
crept back as noiselessly as he had advanced, and reported to General 
Terry. A little later Lieutenant-colonel Greeley was sweeping down upon 
the Confederate pickets, capturing nearly all of them, then rushing upon 
the thin line left to hold the breastworks, capturing them, which General 
Terry at once occupied. (") 

General Beauregard had concentrated his troops with great vigor on 
the night of the 15th, had thrown up a line of new intrenchments in the 



FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 325 

rear of those captured by the colored troops, and had not far from fourteen 
thousand men by nine o'clock on the morning of the 16th. Through the 
day the Confederates were hard at work with shovels and axes strengthen- 
ing the lines which ran from the Appomattox south thi'ee miles to the 
railroad leading to Norfolk, then west four miles to the Weldon Railroad, 
then north two miles to the Appomattox River. 

Two and one-half miles east of Petersburg stood the house of Mr. 
Shand ; General Potter's division of the Ninth Corps was directly east of 

it, half a mile distant. It was a larffe house, with a chimney 

JuiielY, 1864. , , , rn, i i i -, . . ^ ■, 

at both ends, ihere was a peach orchard around it, with the 
young fruit forming on its branches. Fifty paces eastward was a ravine 
iifteen or twenty feet deep, with a little rivulet winding through it. Di- 
rectly west of the house, about the same distance, was another ravine with 
a rivulet, both streams running north, and uniting twenty rods distant 
from the house. A Confederate brigade held this tongue of land, pro- 
tected by breastworks. They had four cannon by the house. The Union 
artillery were sending their shells towards it. One of the Confederate offi- 
cers was playing the piano which stood in the parlor, but suddenly found 
himself sitting on the floor, the piano-stool having been swept from be- 
neath him by a shot. He was uninjui'cd, but his playing was unceremo- 
niously interrupted. 

It is a mile or more from the house of Mr. Shand to that of Mr. Dunn, 
north, towards the Appomattox, and the Confederate line ran from house 
to house. The works had been thrown up in 1862, and the tall pine-trees 
in front had been felled. During the summer of 1863 the fire had run 
through the fallen timber, burning the dried foliage and blackening the 
trunks. We are to think of the Union troops as being drawn up in the 
edge of the woods a third of a mile east of the breastworks, waiting orders 
to advance. Solid shot and shell come crashing amid the trees. One of 
the regiments standing there was the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts, with a 
boy only seventeen years old in the ranks — Edward Schneider, who was 
born far away on the head-waters of the Euphrates, where the patriarch 
Abraham once tended his flocks. His father was a missionary, but had 
sent his son to the United States to obtain an education at Phillips Acad- 
emy, in Andover, Mass. A few weeks after the battle of Gettysburg the 
students of that institution invited me to tell them the story of that great 
struggle. AVhen I finished my address the boy from the far East came and 
talked about it. Pie was so greatly interested that he thought about it 
through the night, and his lesson was not learned in the morning. Day 
after day he failed in his recitations. He said to his teacher, when re- 
21* 



326 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

proved : "I cannot study ; I must go to the war. My country calls me," 
and enlisted as a soldier. He was deeply religious, and had tlie moral 
courage the first night in camp to kneel before his comrades and silently 
offer his evening prayer. His messmates respected him all the more, and 
the next night asked him to pray aloud, and so under his sweet and per- 
suasive influence they too became religious. His first battle w^as at Nortli 
Anna, where he was wounded, and sent to the hospital. His soul was on 
fire, and, without asking leave of the surgeon, lie returned to his regiment. 
Here he stood, looking across the blackened trunks of the fallen trees 
towards the Confederate lines, knowing that his regiment was to cross the 
intervening space and charge the works. The chaplain of the regiment 
was walking along the lines. "We are going to capture the works, and I 
mean to be the first one inside," he said. The line moved on. Shells 
exploded in the ranks. Muskets flashed. There was no faltering. When 
near the works the boy leaped from the line, mounted the embankment 
in advance of all others. " Come on !" he shouted, and fell with a mortal 
wound. He was taken to the hospital. The chaplain went to see him, 
"Write to my father, and tell him that I have tried to do my duty." He 
divided his money — $10 to the Christian Commission, $10 to the Ameri- 
can Board of Missions. "Write to my school-mates and tell them that I 
die content. Write to my brother in the navy, and tell him to stand up 
for the old flag, and cling to the cross of Christ." The surgeon bent over 
him. " Doctor, I am going home. I am not afraid to die. I don't 
know how the valley Avill look when 1 get into it, but it is all bright 
now." He broke into singing : 

" Soon with angels I'll be marcliing, 
With bright laurels on mj^ brow; 
I have for my country fallen, 
Who will care for mother now?" 

It was a song often sung by the soldiers. Death stole on. Sunday morning 
dawned, and just as the sun was rising he passed into the light of eternal 
day. Had he lived a century, he could not have completed life more fully. (/ ) 
Several attempts were made by a brigade of the Second Corps to carry 
the position on the evening of the 16th, without success, and night came 
on with the Union troops in the ravine. They were relieved by Potter's 
division of the Ninth Corps. The men packed their tin plates and cups 
in their haversacks, that there might not be any rattling. No one spoke. 
There were two brigades — Grifliti's and Curtin's— twelve regiments. They 
made their way into the ravine, and were only fifty-seven paces from the 



FROM COLD HARBOR TO PP^TERSBURG. 



327 




ASSAULT OF POTTER S DI- 
VISION, NINTH CORPS. 



Confederate breastworks. They were to rush up the steep bank, cross 
the narrow terrace, leap over the breastworks, and gather in the line of men 
in gray. Cannon would flame in their faces. There would be a blast of 
leaden rain. It required nerve and hardihood to niove at midnight silent- 
ly down the ravine, tlie rising moon throwing its light along the moving 
column, to take their places, speaking no word 
above a whisper, to lie upon the ground till the 
first gleam of daylight appeared on the eastern 
sky. Fifteen minutes past three was the time 
fixed. The ofiicers had regulated their watches. 
The hands stole on to the appointed moment. 
Up to the hour of midnight the canuonade rolled 
along the line. After that hour both armies had 
been -resting. The men in the ravine rose and 
dressed their ranks, elbow touching elbow, and 
grasped their muskets with nervous energy. There 
was no clicking of locks, but each soldier brought 
his musket to the " charge," With watches in 
one hand and swords in the other, the command- 
ers of regiments waited. Their swords waved. 
It was the signal. The moon was high in the 

heavens, shining from a cloudless sky. The soldiers caught the gleam of 
the flashing blades, and moved up the bank. Cannon flashed, men went 
down, but the lines rolled on, up to the breastwork, over it. " Surrender !" 
Six hundred and fifty Confederates threw down their muskets. The six 
cannon were seized, one thousand five hundred muskets and four stands of 
colors were captured. It was the work of three minutes. ('") 

During the day Wilcox's division of the Ninth Corps, supported by 
Barlow's of the Second, attacked near the I^orfolk railroad, and drove the 
Confederates. Just before night Ledlie's division of the Ninth, com- 
manded by Colonel Gould, captured a portion of the intrenchmeuts and 
one hundred prisoners; but having used up all their ammunition, and no 
troops being sent to their assistance, they were driven out, losing heavily. 
Nearly all of the Second Corps and Crawford's division of the Fifth were 
engaged. There was little concerted action on the part of the Union 
troops. The divisions attacked separately, and at a disadvantage. Gen- 
eral Beauregard, on the contrary, handled his troops most effectively. He 
had not far from twenty thousand, but had great advantage of position, 
behind breastworks, with the trees cut down in front, their branches inter- 
laced, with here and Ihere a thick growth of brambles. 



328 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Genei'al Beauregard saw that lie must reduce his line — make it shorter. 
He sent his engineer, Colonel Harris, to lay out a new line on the west 
bank of Harrison's Creek, which rises south of the house of Mr. Shand, 
and runs north to the Appomattox. The engineer drove a line of white 
stakes. Shovels were distributed. Silently, at midnight, the main line 
fell back, leaving only skirmishers in front. The men seized the shovels, 
and in a very short time a new breastwork was thrown up, and the artil- 
lery placed in position. (") 

General Meade was preparing for a grand assault. It was to be made at 

four o'clock on the morning of the ISth. The whole of Grant's army had 

arrived. The Eio;hteenth Coi'ps, with the exception of Martin- 
June 18, 1864. -,,,... '^ . , A • . .1 

dale s division, was recrossing the Appomattox to join Gen- 
eral Butler. Neill's division of the Sixth Corps had taken its place. At 
the appointed hour, the Second, Fifth, and Ninth corps moved forward, 
but no musketry flamed from the intrenchments which yesterday were 
manned by the Confederates, wdio were now behind the new intrench- 
ments, a third of a mile nearer Petersburg. General Meade was compelled 
to make new dispositions. Time went by, and with the swiftly flying 
hours went all chance for taking Petersburg by assault. At seven o'clock 
the troops of Kershaw's division, and a little later Field's division, of Lee's 
army, came across the Apjjomattox in the cars, and took positions behind 
the newly made works. 

Just after dark on the evening of the 12th of June, General Warren, 
commanding the Fifth Corps, started from Cold Harbor for the movement 
towards James River. He was followed by the Second and Ninth. We 
have seen how Warren crossed the Chickahominy and moved up the 
Charles City road towards Riddel's shoj). General Grant intended to 
accomplish two things by the movement of this corps — make Lee think 
he was about to move upon Richmond from that direction, and at the 
same time screen the real movement of the army, in both of which he was 
successful. We have seen the Second Corps making a rapid march to the 
James, followed by the Ninth, taking the shortest route to Petersburg, 
with the Sixth takino; the longer route, and the trains makins; a still lon- 
ger journey. We have seen the Second crossing the James, followed by 
the Ninth, the Second arriving in front of Petersburg just before sunset 
on the 15th. Let us see what Lee was doing upon the afternoon of the 
17th, at the hour when the whole of Grant's army was near Petersburg. 

General Beauregard forecast the probable movement. On the after- 
noon of the Ttli he telegraphed this to Bragg at Richmond : " Should 
Grant have left Lee's front, he doubtless intends operating against Rich- 



FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 331 

mond along James River, probably on the soutli side. Petersburg, being 
nearly defenceless, would be captured before it could be reinforced." The 
next day Beauregard sent a long letter to Bragg, giving his reasons for 
believing that Grant was swinging round to the James, and that he would 
probably attack between Bermuda Hundred and Richmond, and at the 
same time seize Petersburg. Neither Bragg nor Lee paid any attention 
to Beauregard. On the 13th, "Warren was south of the Chickahominy, 
and Lee was hastening from Cold Harbor, through Richmond, and down 
the Charles City road, to meet Grant's whole army, which he supposed 
was to advance from that direction. At three o'clock on the afternoon of 
the 13th Grant was at Bermuda Hundred, giving directions to Butler. 
On the 15th Lee had his army extending from Malvern Hill north to 
White Oak Swamp, supposing that Grant's wliole army was before him, 
when there was only the Fifth Corps, which was getting ready to move 
to the crossinof at Windmill Point. On the morniny; of the 16th Lee was 
still there, but the Fifth Corps was well on its way to Petersburg, where 
were the Second, Ninth, and Eighteenth, already engaged with Beauregard. 

At 10.30 on the morning of the 16th Lee sent this to Beauregard : " I 
do not know tlie position of Grant's army. Cannot strip north bank of 
James River." On the afternoon of the 17th, at 3.30, he sent this to 
W. H. F. Lee, who was at Malvern Hill: "Push after the enemy, and 
endeavor to ascertain what has become of Grant's army." Gen. A. P. 
Hill was at Riddel's shop, just south of White Oak Swamp, where he had 
been three days, confronted part of the time by Warren and the rest by 
the Union cavalry. But Warren was now at Petersburg, and the cavalry, 
by their bold front, had successfully deceived the Confederate commander. 

At 4.30 on the 17th Lee sent this to Beauregard : "Have no informa- 
tion of Grant's crossing the James River, but upon your report have or- 
dered troops to Chaffin's Bluff." At ten o'clock that evening he informed 
Beauregard that he had ordered Kershaw's division of Anderson's corps 
to report to him. Kershaw marched to the cars, which whirled him to 
Petersburg, where he arrived at seven o'clock on the morning of the 18th, 
while the Union army was moving to assault the new line taken up l)y 
the Confederates. Had not Beauregard taken his new line, it is probable 
that he would have been swept out of the position held the day before, 
and that at the hour of seven Kershaw would have seen him retreating 
across the Appomattox. Not till the close of the 17th did Lee compre- 
hend Grant's movement. That it came upon him with great force at last 
is seen in the haste with which he made his way to Petersburg, where he 
arrived at 11.30 on the forenoon of the 17th. 



332 



EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



There has been a disposition on the part of tlie admirers of Lee to be- 
little the part performed by Beauregard, and give undue credit to the 
Confederate commander-in-chief, but the truth of history 
will give the honor of holding Petersburg to Beauregard ; 
and the truth of history will also give to Grant the credit of planning a 
movement which Lee did not comprehend, and which, had General Smith 



June 18, 1864. 




AVERY HOUSE, HEADQUARTERS OF GENERAL "WARREN, IN FRONT OF PETERSBURG. 

From a war-time Sketch. 



acted with energy, would have given him Petersburg on the 15th of June, 
and changed the whole aspect of the war. 

When it was discovered, on the morning of the IStli, that the Confed- 
erates had fallen back to a new position, General Meade ordered the army 
to press forward. The Second Corps very soon became engaged near the 
house of Mr. Hare. It had only a short distance to advance, while the 
Ninth Corps had a mile, and the Fifth a still greater distance. The fore- 
noon passed before the Fifth and Ninth were in position. All the while 
the Confederate cannon were sending shells upon the Union troops. Gen- 
eral Burnside, with the Ninth, advanced to the railroad leading from 
Petersburg to Norfolk, but could not drive the Confederates from an ex- 



FROM COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG. 



333 



cavation in wliicli they were sheltered. ISTot till the sun was going clown 
were the different divisions in position. We are to think of a great uproar 
of artillery, more than one hundred and fifty cannon on both sides sending 
solid shot and shell into the opposing ranks. Down in the ravine, through 
which winds Harrison's Creek, were the men in blue, struggling amid fallen 
trees to make their way up to the Confederate lines. By the railroad, can- 
non were flaming in the faces of the men of the Ninth Corps, who worked 
their way to within one hundred yards of the Confederate intrenchments. 
Very gallant was the charge of Griffin's division close by the house of Mr. 
Avery, near which General Warren established his headquarters. 

I climbed to the roof of the building, through which Confederate 
shells had crashed. " Do not let them see you use your glass," was the 
injunction of General Warren, who was sitting on the step of the portico. 




GENERALS HUNT AND DUANE. 



334 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

At my feet were the Union soldiers reclining on the ground ; eastward, 
screened from the Confederates by woods, were the wagons of the Fifth 
Corps ; westward, across the storm-swept plain, were the Confederate in- 
trenchments, bristling with cannon and battle-flags wav'ing above them; 
beyond were the spires of the city and the winding Appomattox. 

The Union troops did not retreat, but held the ground already won, 

went to work with shovels, and when once more the daylight appeared in 

the east, they were behind a line of works which they would 

' hold from that hour to the close of the mighty struggle, ten 

months later, when the Confederacy would disappear like a bubble in a 

swirling stream. 

During the three days' struggle for the possession of Petersburg, near- 
ly eleven thousand Union soldiers had been killed, wounded, or taken 
prisoner. It will never be known how many went down npon the Con- 
federate side ; but as Beauregard's troops were sheltered behind intrench- 
ments, the loss could not have been as great. General Grant knew when 
the sun went down that Lee's army had arrived ; that the intrenchments 
could not be carried by assault, and that there were long months of weary 
struggle before him. He accepted the inevitable, and began his plans for 
the future. Both armies were worn and weary. The innnediate object 
which Grant had in view, the taking of Petersburg, had not been accom- 
plished ; but there was no despondency visible in his face. It was nine 
miles to City Point, his base of supplies. A few days, and the soldiers 
heard the scream of the locomotive, and a train of cars came into their 
very encampments, bringing fresh supplies. So the siege of Petersburg 
began. General Duane, of the Engineer Corps, marked out the lines for 
the fortifications, and General Hunt, commanding the artillery, selected 
the positions for the heavy guns. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XII. 

( ') Alfred Roman, "Military Operations of Gen. P. T. Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 566. 
( '-) General Wise, Report quoted by Alfred Roman, iu " Military Operations of Gen. 

P. T. Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 224. 
( ') Author's Note-book, June, 1864. 

( *) Alfred Roman, "Military Operations of Gen. P. T. Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 230. 
( '") Idem. 

( *) Major-general Hancock's Report. 

( ■') Alfred Roman, "Military Operations of Gen. P. T. Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 231. 
( «) "Military History of Connecticut," p. 611. 
( ^) Author's Note-book, June, 1864. 
(i») Idem. 
(") Alfred Roman, "Military Operations of Gen. P. T. Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 238. 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 335 



CHAPTER XIII. 

APPROACHING ATLANTA. 

MILITARY law in the Confederacy was very powerful. It not only 
swept all able-bodied citizens of the military age into the army, but 
it impressed the slaves of the planters into the service to build fortifica- 
tions. When General Johnston found that General Sherman would soon 
compel him to fall back from the strong fortifications which he had erected 
on Kenesaw, he sent Colonel Prestman, of the engineers, to lay out a new 
line of fortifications, ten miles south of Marietta, and called npon the slave- 
holders to send their slaves to construct them, also a strong line of forts, 
redoubts, and breastworks around Atlanta. So through the last days of 
June three large gangs of slaves were toiling with picks and shovels, one 
south of Marietta, a second party along the Chattahoochee River, and the 
third aronnd Atlanta. (') 

AVith Sherman's troops closing around Marietta, and threatening Johns- 
ton's communications, the Confederate commander could tarry no longer 
at Kenesaw, and retreated once more to the new line of in- 

Julv 3, 1864. , „ . T T . 1 -, -, 

trenchments. Tor twenty-six days the two armies had stood 
face to face around Kenesaw, but this retreat took the Confederate army 
away from the hills and mountains, and made a flanking movement all the 
easier for General Sherman. 

While the cars were bringing supplies to Sherman he was studying his 
next move. He had no intention of attacking the Confederates behind 
their breastworks. He would gain Johnston's rear. The Chattahoochee 
River was swollen by the rains. The only bridge, the one at Roswell, 
twenty miles np-stream, above the railroad to Atlanta, had been burned. 
The river was too deep to be forded, and he must lay pontoons. He sent 
Garrard's cavalry north-east eight miles from Marietta, to the village of 
Stop-and-Swap. The troopers pressed on to Roswell, burning a cotton- 
factory, which was making clothing for the Confederacy ; also a paper- 
mill. 

The French flag was flying over the building, and the men who were 



336 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



July 5, 1864. 



running the mill said that the property belonged to citizens of France ; 
Garrard did not stop for that, but set the building on fire. General Davi.s 
on his march to join Sherman destroyed an irou-foundeiy 
at Rome. So, day by day the Confederate Government 
saw that not only were the armies being pressed back, but that the re- 
sources of the country were rapidly diminishing. 

General Schofield rode along the banks of the Chattahoochee up to 
Soap Creek, above Roswell, looking at all the crossings. Garrard's scouts 
said that there was only one company of Confederate cavalry with a single 






"^^-^ i^-> "^f 



THE FISH-TRAP ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE WHERE GENERAL SCHOFIELD CROSSED. 



cannon guarding the crossing just above the creek. Schofield saw that a 
farmer who lived near by had made a fish-trap at that point, and that the 
water was rippling over the rocks. He also saw that tlie boats for the 
pontoon-bridge could be put into the creek where the Confederate cavalry 
could not see them, and that in a few moments a strong force could be put 
across the river. The place was selected for the crossing. 

Cox's division and the Army of the Ohio reached the creek. Tlie men 
marched in silence. No camp-fires were kindled. The wagons with the 
boats came np, and five hundred men launched them in the little stream. 
Byrd's brigade was to make the crossing, and the Twelfth Kentucky was 
to take the lead. While the boats were getting ready Cameron's brigade 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 



339 



was making its way to tlie fisli-trap, half a mile above the creek. The 
scouts, who crept along the bank of the river, peeping through the bushes 
saw a Confederate cannon on the other bank. In the camp near at hand 
some of the soldiers were plajing cards; one was writing a letter to his 




MAJOR GENERAL SCHOFIELD. 



wife. He had just written that she need not be alarmed about him, for 
no Yankees were to be seen anywhere ; they were all down in front of 
Johnston, and he was just as safe there as he would be at liome. (') While 
he was writing it the hand on General Cameron's watch moved on to 3.30. 
Upon tlie instant Colonel Casement, with the One Hundred and Third 



34:0 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Oliio, the men wlio ran across the stringers of tlie bridge at Cu]p"'s farm, 
dashed down the bank by the lish-trap, made their way across the river, 
and rushed up the other bank. At the same instant the boats, tilled with 
Kentuckians, shot out from the mouth of Soap Creek into the river. 
Strong-armed rowers pulled the oars. There was a commotion in the 
Confederate camp ; the soldiers seized their guns ; the unfinished letter 
dropped upon the ground ; the cannon flashed, but the next moment the 
air w^as humming with bullets fired by the advancing Union men. The 
Confederates fled, carrying the news to Johnston that the Union army was 
crossing the river. Before night the bridge was completed and Cox's 
division across tlie stream. 

Once more Johnston was compelled to retreat. Through the night his 

troops were on the march across the river. (^) Sherman followed to close 

in u])on Atlanta, marching east to approach the city on its 

July 9, 1864. • i o i i i i i 

northern and eastern sides. Such a movement would enable 
him to protect the railroad over which he received his own supplies, and 
at the same time cut the road leading east from Atlanta. General Thomas 
took position nearest the Chattahoochee, along the north bank of Peach- 
tree Creek. McPherson and Schofield moved farther east, turned south 
to destroy the railroad leading east, with the intention of cutting off Johns- 
ton from direct communication with Lee at Richmond. 

The intrenchments which the slave gangs had erected for the defence 
of Atlanta began at the railroad two miles south of the Chattahoochee, 
ran east six miles to Pea-vine Creek, then turned south and extended to 
the railroad leading from Atlanta eastward. General Johnston saw that 
McPherson was separated from Thomas, and was thinking of giving bat- 
tle to Sherman. 

Just at this moment General Bragg arrived at General Johnston's 

headquarters. After his defeat at Missionary Ridge he had been called to 

Richmond, and had been appointed chief of staff as military 

Julv 14, 1864. , . ' „ ^^ . '^ \^ • •, 1 T T . 

adviser to Jefferson Davis. He said tliat he was on ins w^ay 
to see two other Confederate commanders — Generals S. D. Lee, in the 
south-west, and E. Kirby Smith, who was west of the Mississippi (^) — to 
ascertain what reinforcements they could send to General Johnston. He 
said that Governor Brown, of Georgia, had called for ten tliousand militia 
of that State to aid in holding Atlanta, and that they would be hurried 
into the city at once, which was welcome news to General Jolmston. 
General Bragg did not stay long, for he said that his visit to the army 
was not official. Jefferson Davis, as has before been stated, did not like 
General Johnston. Before the Southern States seceded from the L^nion 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 



341 



there liad been a disagreement between them which the President of the 
Confederacy had not forgotten, though after the defeat of Bragg at Mis- 
sionary Ridge lie had been compelled to comply with the public demand, 
and appoint him to command the Army of the West. While the Con- 
federate army was at Dalton an intrigue was started in Kichmond against 
Johnston. A Confederate writer says : " An intrigue was commenced at 
the time he first moved from Dalton, at the very commencement of the 
campaign, and Mr. Davis only waited a convenient opportunity and an 
available pretext to put his sinister design into execution." (^) 




GENERAL HOWAKD S CORPS CROSSING THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 
From a sketch made at the time. 



General Bragg remained but a short time in Atlanta, and instead of 
going on to Mobile to confer with Gen. S. D. Lee, returned to Richmond. 
Had we been in the large room in the President's mansion 
' ' in which the Confederate Cabinet held its sessions, we 
should have seen the President and his Cabinet discussing the question 
of removing General Johnston summarily from command. We are not to 
think that the members of the Cabinet had personal animosity towards 
General Johnston, and it is hardly probable that Jefferson Davis allowed 
his personal difference with him to unduly affect his judgment as Presi- 
dent ; but the people of the South, the members of the Confederate Con- 
gress, were disheartened over the falling back of the Confederate army 
from Dalton to Resaca, from there to Cassville, and successively to Dallas, 
Kenesaw, Smyrna, and across the Chattahoochee, until at last General 
Sherman was closing around Atlanta. The newsj^apers were publishing 
accounts of Confederate victories, and had informed the people that Gen- 
eral Johnston was only falling back to lead Sherman farther from his base 
of supplies ; but now that the Union army was across the Chattahoochee, 



342 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

there was a tone of discontent and disappointment, and a demand for an 
aggressive movement on the part of the Confederates. The Cabinet, it is 
said, favored the removal of Johnston and the appointment of General 
Hood. It is also said that the President of tlie Confederacy walked up 
and down the room with his hands behind him in deep anxiety, saying 
that he doubted the propriety of it. (') 

Going back to Atlanta, we see General Johnston in his tent talking 
with Colonel Prestman about the intrenchments around Atlanta. It is 
ten o'clock at night(') when the telegraph operator liands him this de- 
spatch from Adjutant-general Cooper at Richmond: "Lieutenant-general 
J. B. Hood lias been commissioned to the temporary rank of general under 
the late law of Congress. I am directed by the Secretary of War to in- 
form you that, as you have failed to arrest the advance of the enemy to 
the vicinity of Atlanta, far in tlie interior of Georgia, and express no con- 
fidence that you can defeat or repel him, you are hereby relieved from the 
command of the Army and Department of Tennessee, which you will im- 
mediately turn over to General IIood."(*) 

General Johnston read it, and with a smile handed it to General Lovell, 
saying, "What do you think of that?"(') Possibly it was not unexpected, 
for he knew that there was an intrigue going on against him. General 
Lovell had confidence in General Johnston, and felt that his removal would 
be a great mistake. He saw Generals Hardee, Stewart, and Hood, and in- 
duced them to send a petition to Jefferson Davis to continue Johnston in 
command. A Confederate historian says : " They protested against the 
change, deputizing General Hood, as a matter of courtesy, to send the pro- 
test. General Hood sent the despatch, but it was worded in such a way 
as to carry no force and no effect. Mr. Davis declined to withdraw the 
order." ('») 

General Johnston turned over the army to General Hood and sent this 

despatch to Richmond: "As to the alleged cause of my removal, I assert 

that Sherman's army is much stronger, compared with that 

July 18, 1864. „ „ , X , ^ • i i ^ -vt i 

of iennessee, than Grants compared with that of JNorthern 
Virginia ; yet the enemy has been compelled to advance much more slow- 
ly to the vicinity of Atlanta than to Richmond and Petersburg, and pen- 
etrated much deeper into Virginia than into Georgia." (") 

General Hood was a brave, bold, energetic commander. He had led 
his troops in many battles ; he could strike heavy blows. Whether Gci 
eral Hood was, or was not, a party to the intrigue against General Johns- 
ton may never be certainly known. He had objected to the policy of 
falling back, and abandoning intrenchraent after intrenchment, but had 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 34:3 

opposed the plan of Johnston to give battle to Sherman at Cassville. He 
accepted the command. 

One of General Sherman's spies came from Atlanta, bringing a news- 
paper wliich gave information of the appointment of Hood. General 
Schofield and General Hood were classmates at West Point. " What sort 
of a man is Hood ?" was Sherman's question. 

" He is bold even to rashness, and courageous in the extreme." 

"His appointment means fight," said Sherman, who sent notice of the 
change to all parts of the army, and who told the division commanders 
that they must be always prepared for battle, and that he would like noth- 
ing better than to have Hood come out and attack in the open ground. (") 

General Hood had three corps — Hardee's, Cheatham's, and Stewart's, 
formerly commanded by General Polk. Stewart was on the left in front 
of Thomas, Hardee in the centre, and Cheatham on the right. Beyond 
Cheatham, in the intrenchments east of the city, were the State troops of 
Georgia, under Gen. G. W. Smith. 

The Army of the Tennessee, with Garrard's cavalry, early in the after- 
noon reached the railroad leading cast from Atlanta. The soldiers tore up 
the rails, heaped up the ties, laid the rails on top, and set the 

July 19, 1864. , ' ^ _„, , ., , ^ 

ties on nre. When tlie rails were red-hot they bent them 
double around the trees, so that they could never be used again. While 
McPherson was destroying the railroad, Thomas was getting across Peach- 
tree Creek, four miles north of Atlanta, which winds through a deep ra- 
vine with steep banks. Shoal Creek is a little stream which rises amid 
the hills near Atlanta, runs north, turns the wheel of Mr. Collier's mill, 
and just beyond the mill joins Peachtree. Mr. Collier's house is about 
a quarter of a mile east of the mill, and Mount Zion Church about the 
same distance west of it, on the road leading south, through Mr. Embury's 
farm, to Atlanta. 

General Palmer's division of the Army of the Cumberland was on the 
right, then came Williams's and Geary's divisions of Hooker's corps, on 
Mr. Embury's farm, between the church and Peachtree Creek. If we 
walk now from the left of Geary's line to the mill across Shoal Creek and 
go up the eastern bank, we come to a piece of woods, in which we find 
Ward's division of Hooker's corps in reserve. Going a short distance 
south and east, we find Wood's and Newton's divisions of Howard's corps. 
-Beyond JSTewton's we come to another little stream — Clear Creek — beyond 
which, more than a mile from Newton, is Stanley's division of Howard's 
corps. Off in the south-east, six miles away, are Schofield and McPherson. 
General Sherman in this movement has divided his army, and Hood be- 



344 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

lieves that with snch gaps between Thomas and McPherson and Schofield, 
and with Stanley so far away from Newton, he can fall upon Newton, roll 
him back on Wood's division, drive both in confusion down into the muddy 
ravine of Peachtree Creek, and then sweep Williams, Geary, and Palmer 
in turn across the creek. Having done this, he will then turn about and 
fall upon Stanley, thus defeating Thomas before Schofield and McPherson 
can arrive to assist him. 

General Hood was a firm believer in what he called the Stonewall 
Jackson school — to march with a portion of his army and strike a blow in 
one direction, then turn and give another in an opposite direction. He 
wanted Johnston to pursue such tactics at Resaca, New Hope, and Kene- 
saw. He detailed Smith and Cheatham to hold the breastworks in front 
of McPherson. It was one o'clock in the afternoon when Hardee, with 
Bate's division on the right, Walker in the centre, Maney on the left, and 
Cleburne in reserve, moved to attack Thomas, directing the main assault 
on Newton's division. Stewart at the same time moved towards Zion 
Church, to strike Williams and Geary. It was nearly four o'clock when 
Bate's division, marching through a thicket of pines and oaks' along the 
west bank of Clear Creek, came upon Newton's left flank. At the same 
moment, south of Zion Church, Stewart w\as riding along his lines, telling 
his troops that they were to drive Geary and Williams back across Peach- 
tree Creek. It was very well for him to arouse the enthusiasm of his 
troops, and tell them how they could put Williams and Geary to rout, but 
the regiments in blue, stretched across the road and fields, had been in a 
score of battles. They climbed Lookout Mountain and fought the battle 
among the clouds. At Gettysburg, at the second Bull Run, Chancellors- 
ville, and on the Peninsula, they sliowed "udiat stuif they were made of. 
They were not in the habit of running from a battle. 

This was Hood's plan : The troops w^ere to advance in echelon by divis- 
ion ; that is, first Bate's division on the extreme right was to get between 
Newton's left flank and Clear Creek; then Walker's division, three hun- 
dred yards in rear, was to march against Newton's centre; Maney's divis- 
ion was to be three hundred yards in the left rear of Walker's ; Stewart's 
divisions were to move in the same order. Hood expected that Bate would 
have little difficulty in getting behind Newton's left flank. The troops 
were ordered to charge with. the bayonet, give a triumphant yell, and 
sweep all before them. It was well planned, but General Hood had not 
correctly calculated the sta_ying qualities of Thomas's men. Instead of 
getting behind Newton, Bate found that officer quickly changing his line 
of battle, swinging his left flank back towards the creek, conforming it to 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 



345 



Bate's line, and liolding his ground. Walker and Manej, as tlie}^ advanced, 
were met by a terrific storm of sliell and mnsketrv. Newton and Wood 
resisted the onset. Wood came into position, ready to take part in tlie 
contest. West of Slioal Creek, Stewart's men were rnsliing upon Geary 
by the mill, and upon Williams near the church. They were met by a 
remorseless fire. General Thomas was on the north side of the creek, 
opposite the ravine through whicli Shoal Creek trickles to Peachtree. 



MAP OF 

ATIiAIN^TA 

AND "VICINITY. 
Scale of Miles 




He massed several of his batteries, whicli poured a destructive fire upon 
the Confederates by the mill. It was a terrible slaughter; the ground 
was quickly covered by the killed and wounded. Not one of the Union 
divisions yielded their ground. 

General Hood was in trouble, for a courier brought word that Scho- 
field and McPherson were attacking Cheatham, and that he must have re- 
inforcements. Hood was just ready to ]3ut Cleburne into the fight against 
Newton, but was obliged to send him, instead, upon the run to hold the in- 
trenchments east of the city. Night came, and the thunder of battle died 
away. Hood's troops were returning to their intrenchments. They had 
accomplished nothing, and had lost more than four thousand brave men. 



346 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Cleburne liastened out to a hill south of the railroad, two miles east of 
Atlanta, across which the slave -gang had thrown up a line of intrench- 
ments. It was an important position, overlooking not only the city, but 
the ground over which McPherson was advancing. Cleburne's artillery, 
from that jDOsition, could send their shells into the lines of the Fifteenth 
Corps. 

McPherson determined to drive Cheatham from the hill, and directed 

General Logan to do it, who selected General Leggett's division of the 

Fifteenth Corps, instructing Leggett to be ready at daylight 

" " ' ' to make the assault. Leggett formed his division during the 
night, with Force's brigade on his right, facing the hill, Scott's brigade on 
the left of Force, and Malloy's in rear of Scott's, to protect the left flank. 
In Force's command were the Twentieth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Forty- 
fifth Illinois, and the Twelfth and Thirteenth Wisconsin. The Twelfth 
Wisconsin had just joined the division with full ranks. Some of the men 
were new recruits. They knew that Cleburne's division was regarded as 
one of the best in Hood's army. AVhen Leggett moved to the attack, the 
division under Giles A. Smith, on his left, was also to advance, to prevent 
the sending of reinforcements to Cleburne. 

Tiie sun was rising when the signal was given. Colonel Munson, in 
command of the skirmishers, advanced rapidly from a belt of timber. The 
Confederates on the hill looked over their breastworks, and saw the line 
of skirmishers closely followed by two well-formed lines. 

"Don't fire a gun until you are inside of the works," was the order of 
General Force. 

From the line of breastworks on the hill the storm burst forth. Men 
dropped from the advancing ranks, which did not for a moment falter, but 
which moved on up the slope. Then came quick flashes, followed by the 
bayonet-thrust and pistol-shot. A moment of melee and the veterans of 
Cleburne's division, who had stood like a wall of adamant in a score of 
battles, were fleeing down the western slope of the hill, across the little 
rivulet trickling through the ravine at its base, and up the hill-side beyond 
to the inner line of intrenchments. It was a bitter mortification to Cle- 
burne, for from the summit of the hill, which Force had won, the Union 
cannon would send shot and shell into the streets of Atlanta. 

The attack upon Thomas at Peachtree Creek had resulted in disaster 
to Hood, and now Cleburne had been driven from Bald Hill, east of At- 
lanta. He had lost five thousand men. The Union artillery — Elliott's 
Eighth Michigan Battery, and the Third Ohio, Williams's battery of 20- 
pounder Parrot-guns — were sending shells into Atlanta, which was a mor- 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 



347 



tification to Hood. General Wheeler, commanding the Confederate cav- 
alry south-east of the city, during the day brought word that the rear of 
McPherson was open to attack ; that there was a large Union wagon-train 
at Decatur, seven miles east of Atlanta. 

The roads were in excellent condition, and there was nothing to pre- 
vent Hood from making a movement in that direction. He decided to 
leave Stewart and the Georgia militia to hold the lines of intrenchment. 




VIEW OF ATLANTA, FROM THE UNION SIGNAL-STATION EAST OF THE CITY. 
From a sketch made at the time. 



and to use Hardee's and his own corps, under Cheatham, to crush McPher- 
son. Hardee's corps was the largest in the Confederate army. Hood or- 
dered the troops to be ready to move at sunset. Hardee's men marched 
through Atlanta, down the road along the Intrenchment Creek, crossing it 
at Mr. Cobb's mill, and turned north-east. Bate's division was in advance, 
then Walker's, followed by Cleburne and Maney. Hardee was to gain 
the rear of McPherson, turn west, and attack Bald Hill. Cheatham, at 
the same time, was to attack from the west. His design was to grind to 
powder the Fifteenth Corps, which held the hill, and the Seventeenth 
Corps, immediately north of it. 



34S EEDEEMING THE EEPU13LIC. 

General McPherson liad not grown careless by the success that fol- 
lowed Sherman's movements, but, on the contrary, had become active and 
vigilant ; during the night he issued an order for the Six- 
■ ""' " teentli Corps to move south of the railroad, and strengthen 
the left of the Seventeenth. At daybreak the Sixteenth was on its march. 
Going now up to Bald Ilil], we find that the soldiers of Leggett's division 
had changed the breastworks captured the day before, so that now they 
faced west, towards Atlanta. When daylight came they discovered that 
the Confederates had abandoned a part of the second line in front of them, 
and Malloy's brigade went out and took possession. General Leggett's 
division faced west, while Gen. Giles A. Smith's division, on his left, 
faced south. The angle was on the southern slope of the hill. Most of 
Smith's line was in thick woods. The Fifteenth Corps was north of Bald 
Hil], Morgan L. Smith's division joining Leggett, then came Harrow's and 
"Wood's divisions, the last being on the railroad. Going now from the left 
of Giles A. Smith's division, three-fourths of a mile east of Bald Hill, we 
come to Morrell's brigade of General Fuller's division of the Sixteentli 
Corps, which had come down from north of the railroad to be in position 
to support the Seventeenth Corps. Sprague's brigade of Fuller's division 
had been sent east to Decatur to protect the wagon-train from Wlieeler's 
cavalry. Sweeny's division of the Sixteenth Corps was, north of Fuller's, 
near the raih-oad. The fields around were thickly covered with wagons. 

Yester-night, before the sun went down, the troops on Bald Hill could 
see a column of Confederates marching out of Atlanta towards the south. 
jSi^ow that the sun was rising, they could still see them, infantry and artil- 
lery, moving in the same direction. Was Hood evacuating Atlanta ? Was 
the repulse at Peachtree and the driving of Cleburne from Bald Hill 
so damaging that it was useless for him to attempt to hold the place, now 
that McPherson's shells were exploding in the streets ? Those who knew 
Hood best could not quite accept the conclusion that he was abandoning 
the city. Through the night the pickets of Leggett, down south of Bald 
Hill, had heard the rumbling of artillery wheels and the tramping of 
men. General Sherman was at McPherson's headquarters, (") near the 
house of Mr. Howard, north of the railroad. Lie found that the Con- 
federates in front of Thomas, as well as those in front of McPherson, had 
fallen back, but that they were hard at work building intrenchments, 
which did not look much like evacuation. Thomas's artillery was send- 
ing shells into the new Confederate line. The air was still, and the boom 
of the guns came to Sherman's and McPherson's ears as they sat on the 
piazza of the house. They could hear the pickets firing in front of the 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 349 

Fifteenth Corps. Tliey v;alked down the road a little distance and sat 
beneath the grateful shade of the trees. General Sherman spread out 
liis map and pointed to the positions. They were in rear of Schoiield, 
whose cannon were also hurling shot and shell towards the Confederate 
line. The Confederate cannon replied, and a shot came hurtling through 
the trees near them. They heard a rapid firing of musketry towards 
the south-east. Sherman took out his pocket-compass to note the direc- 
tion. 

" What is the meaning of it ?" he asked. McPherson could not tell, 
but gathered up his papers and rode away with General Ilickenlooper, 
Chief of Artillery, Adjutant-general Clark, Inspector-general Strong, Cap- 
tain Steele, Captain Gile, and Orderly Thompson towards the firing. (") 

It was near noon, and the pickets out towards Decatur had caught a 
glimpse of Confederate cavalry advancing from tlie south-east towards the 
trains and hospitals. The first dropping fire of musketry came from the 
pickets. As the noise increased, the Sixty-third Ohio, commanded by Colo- 
nel Welles, of Leggett's division, was ordered in that direction to protect 
them. On its way the regiment suddenly came upon a line of Confeder- 
ate skirmishers, the advance of Bate's division. Colonel Welles deployed 
his men, and the battle began. 

General Dodge, commanding the Sixteenth Corps, and General Fuller, 
were eating dinner. They dropped their knives and went out to see what 
was going on. 

" The Rebel cavalry must be raiding our rear. Post your regiments to 
protect our train," said Dodge, as he leaped into his saddle. 

The firing was becoming every moment louder in the rear, where they 
did not expect to be attacked. Fuller's soldiers were quickly in line, form- 
ing on the western edge of a field, and facing east. The Second division 
of the Sixteenth Corps, nnder Sweeny, was forming at the same moment 
north of Fuller. A little rivulet rising in the woods runs along the west- 
ern edge of the field, then turns eastward. Fuller's line was along this 
stream ; the Thirty-ninth Ohio on the west, the Twenty-seventh next in 
line. The Sixty-fourth IHinois was on the west bank of the stream, and 
the Eighteenth Missouri in reserve in rear of the Thirty-ninth Ohio ; the 
Fourteenth Ohio Battery, Captain Laird, w'as on a knoll farther north ; the 
Eighty-first Ohio was near the battery. The fields in the immediate vicin- 
ity were filled with wagons. There was a sudden harnessing of horses, 
and the trains began to move north towards the raih'oad. The pickets 
were streaming from the woods, followed by the Confederates of Bate's 
and Walker's divisions of Hardee's corps. The six guns of Laird's battery 



350 EEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

opened lire. The Confederates evidently did not see Fullers regiments, 
which were partly concealed in the woods. 

Bat suddenly a line of fire burst forth in front of them. They halted, 
fell back, rearranged their lines, and once more advanced. They were a 
quarter of the way across the field. " Charge the battery !" was the word 
which ran down the Confederate lines. They rushed towards the guns, 
when suddenly the Eighty-first Ohio, rising like an apparition from the 
ground, stood before them. With a cheer the men from Ohio rushed to 
meet the Confederates half-way across the field. Enthusiasm is contagious. 
In a time of excitement, what others do spontaneously we ourselves are 
pretty certain to do. 

The cheer and the action stirred the blood of the Thirty-ninth Ohio. 
The soldiers of that regiment fired a volley, sprang to their feet, and 
rushed upon the Confederates of the Sixty-sixth Georgia. The enthusi- 
asm reached the Twenty-seventh Ohio, and that regiment also dashed 
across the field. There were no regiments on Fuller's right to oppose the 
Confederates in that direction, and there was the remarkable scene of the 
Ohio regiments rushing east, while just south of them the Confederates 
were pushing past them towards the west. 

The Sixty-fourth Illinois was armed with Plenry repeating-rifles, with 
which they could fire fourteen rounds without stopping to reload. It 
was like the firing of a brigade. The Confederates were commanded by 
a brave officer, General Walker, who saw^ his line wavering, and brought 
forward other regiments from the woods. He rode in front of them 
bareheaded, waving his hat and encourao-ino; his men. The Eio;hteentli 
Missouri came down at the moment and joined the Sixty-fourth Illinois, 
pouring in its volleys. The brave Confederate officer fell from his horse, 
mortally wounded. Hood had lost one of his ablest division commanders. 

The Confederate troops fell back into the woods, but reformed and 
advanced once more to strike Fuller's flank. That commander saw that 
he must change front. There are times when actions are better than 
commands. Some of his men did not comprehend his order, whereupon 
he seized the colors of the Twenty-seventh Ohio, planted them where he 
wished to form his new line, and the regiment came into position upon 
the double-quick. General Fuller was once the colonel of the Twenty- 
seventh, and the men gave a cheer and, together with the Thirty-ninth, 
drove the Confederates once more into the woods. 

The Sixteenth Corps was holding its ground against Hardee, but there 
was a wide gap between Fuller and the left of Giles A. Smith's division 
of the Seventeenth Corps. While Bate's and Walker's divisions were 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 351 

attacking the Sixteenth Corps, Cleburne and Manej were falling upon 
Smith. Cleburne's men were smarting under the loss of Bald Hill the 
day before. It is a noble faculty of the soul that stirs us to regain what we 
have lost, and bring victory out of defeat. Cleburne's blood was on fire to 
turn the disaster of yesterday into a victory to-day. JSTever had his troops 
gone into battle with such determination to win a victory as now. They 
paid no heed to the line of Union skirmishers in front of them, but 
brushed them away as you brush aside a spider's thread floating in the air. 

McPherson had ordered General Blair, commanding the Fifteenth 
Corps, to send Wangelin's brigade, which was in reserve, to fill the gap 
between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps. It was on the march, 
but had not arrived. Cleburne was just ready to strike the left of Giles 
A. Smith's division. It was at that moment that McPherson gathered up 
his papers, put them into his pocket, and rode south across the railroad 
with his staff to find out the meaning of the uproar. He came to the 
wagon-train, and saw the teamsters lashing their horses to a run. 

"Please stop those teams; they will get up a stampede," he said, 
and his staff rode away to control the panic-stricken teamsters. One of 
General Leggett's staff, with his horse upon the run, rode up and saluted 
McPherson : 

" General Leggett wishes me to inform you that the enemy are attack- 
ing him, and he desires orders." 

" Tell him to straighten his line parallel with this road." 

The road ran south into the woods, towards the position of Giles A. 
Smith. Captain Paymond rode in advance, followed by McPherson and 
Orderly Thompson. In all probability McPherson supposed that "Wangelin 
was in the position to which he had been ordered, but he was not. He 
was on the march, but had not reached the ground. They entered the 
woods, were in a bend of the road, when suddenly there was a volley of 
musketry and Captain Rajnnond's horse went down. " Halt ! halt ! Sur- 
render!" was the cry of a hundred Confederates. General McPherson 
wheeled his horse, lifted his hat as if to salute, but the next moment fell 
headlong to the ground. Orderly Thompson, swept from his saddle, also 
fell to the ground. A moment later and McPherson's horse was running 
wild across the field in front of the Ohio troops. The faithful orderly 
sprang to his feet and ran to his beloved commander. "Are you hurt, 
general?" "Oh, orderly, I am!" They were his last words. (") A mo- 
ment of convulsion, and his heart ceased its beating. The country had 
lost one of its ablest commanders. The Confederates swarmed around 
the lifeless body and searched General McPherson's pockets, taking his 



352 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

pocket-book and papers. Captain Raymond and Orderly Thompson were 
marched away as prisoners, and Cleburne's line moved on over the body 
of the dead commander. It was between twelve and one o'clock. General 
Sherman was walking up and down the porch of the Howard Honse when 
one of McPherson's staff rode up with the startling news that McPherson 
was killed or a prisoner. 

"Ride to Logan, and inform him that he is the senior ofBcer in the 
Army of the Tennessee. Direct him to refuse his left flank, drive back 
the enemy, and hold the hill. Tell him that I will send him all needful 
reinforcements." 

The officer reached Logan and informed him that he was commander. 
Cleburne at that moment was sweeping past Giles A. Smith, whose left 
regiments had crumbled in part, some of the men fleeing, but others sul- 
lenl}^ falling back towards Leggett's division. Cleburne intended to anni- 
hilate Smith and then toss Leggett over against Ciieatham. 

The death of General Walker had deprived Cleburne of an important 
ally. More than this, the battery of Captain Laird was sending shells into 
his flank. The Sixty-fourth Illinois, with their Henry rifles, were doing 
him great damage. Tlie soldiers of that regiment made a dash and captured 
forty Confederates of the regiment wdiich fired the volley upon McPher- 
son. In tlie pockets of one of the prisoners they found McPherson's 
papers, and among them an important letter from General Sherman fore- 
casting the Union commander's plans, and about which Slierman had been 
uneasy ; but it was quite certain that no Confederate officer had seen it, 
and Sherman breathed easier. ('°) The Sixty-fourth pushed on and recov- 
ered the body of their beloved commander, which was borne back to the 
Howard House. The Confederates rallied, and the Sixty-fourth Illinois 
and Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth regiments in turn were forced back 
into a thicket ; but their resolute attack had retarded Walker's and Cle- 
burne's divisions. So stubborn the resistance that ever}' third man in the 
Twenty-seventh and every fourth man in the Thirty-ninth was either killed 
or wounded ; but they held their ground till ordered to a new position. 

In obedience to the last order issued by McPherson, Giles A. Smith 
endeavored to form his new line parallel with the road, but mvis forced 
back by Cleburne until he stood back to back with Leggett. 

Going up now to the top of the hill, to the intrenchment which Leggett 
had constructed, let us take a look from that position. Looking south along 
the line of breastworks, we see a part of Scott's brigade, the Seventy-eighth 
Ohio, nearest the fortification ; then the Twentieth Ohio, which turns a 
sharp angle, the right of the regiment facing west and the left south-east. 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 



353 




WHERE McPHEUSON FELL. 



Tlie line is along the western edge of woods, with ca field sloping westward 
towards a ravine, beyond which is the Confederate line of intrenchments, 
where Hood's old corps is in waiting to come out and do its part of the 
grinding up of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth corps. Hood himself is 
there to see it done. The right flank of Giles A. Smith's division of the 
Seventeenth Corps joins the Twentieth Ohio regiment. General Force's 
brigade of Leggett's division is in the fortification on the top of the hill and 
along the brea^t works. 
■23 



354: EEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

As we have already seen, the first blow of Cleburne was on the left 
side of Smith ; but as Cleburne advances, the attack runs down the line to 
the Twentieth Ohio, as the white foam of an ocean billow rolls against a 
long reach of sea-beach, striking at last a jutting headland. Tliey who 
stand at the angle hear at first a ripple and then a roar of musketiy. 
Onward sweeps the tide, the Confederate soldiers sending out their loud- 
est yells, their bayonets flashing in the sun, the earth resounding the 
tread of the advancing liost. The veteran Union soldiers know that 
there must be a desperate struggle. In an instant they leap over the 
breastworks, turn about, and face to the south-east, bring their muskets to 
a level, and fire a volley. 

The great body of the Confederate column under Cleburne sweeps on 
towards the hill, while Maney's division swings west of the angle, then 
turns east to rush upon the Twentieth and Seventy-eighth regiments. In an 
instant the Ohio troops leap back to the other side of the breastworks, turn 
about, and deliver their volleys upon Maney, strewing the ground with killed 
and wounded. Leggett's chief of artillery. Captain Williams, has placed 
Elliott's battery of Rodman guns between Force's and Scott's brigades, 
the 24-pound howitzers of Captain Hooper's battery on the top of the hill, 
and the Third Ohio Battery of 20-pound Parrot-guns on the right of the 
division. Cleburne's troops rush up the eastern slope of the hill. Then 
comes a terrible hand-to-hand struiro-le, men firing^ into each other's faces 
across the breastworks, stabbing each other with their bayonets, beating 
out each other's brains with the butts of their muskets. Such a melee 
cannot continue long. Cleburne's men are out of breath with their run- 
ning up the hill. Their aggressive force has spent itself ; many have been 
killed or wounded, and the shattered lines fall back into the woods. 

General Hood was on the breastworks east of the city. He had in- 
tended that Cheatham, with his own old corps, should rush up the west- 
ern slope of the hill the same moment that Cleburne attacked, but it was not 
possible for him to an-ange for exact concert of action. Cheatham started 
when he heard the uproar, but before he could reach the hill Cleburne had 
been repulsed. The Confederates under Cheatham rushed up the western 
slope, but the Union troops leaped back again over the mtrenchments and 
were ready to receive them. The howitzers, the Hodman and Parrot-guns 
poured in a terrific fire. Cheatham could make no headway and was 
easily repulsed. Cleburne was not i-eady to give up the struggle, and re- 
formed his lines in the woods and again advanced. Once more tlie Union 
men leaped over the breastworks and faced the east. General Walcott, 
commanding a brigade in Morgan L. Smith's division of the Fifteenth 



APPROACHING ATLANTA. 355 

Corps, swung liis troops out from the main line nnd delivered a destruc- 
tive enfilading fire. The hill once more was aflame. Fuller, of the Six- 
teenth Corps, was opening on Cleburne's rear, whose troops again fled to 
the shelter of the woods. 

Over towards Atlanta Cheatham meanwhile had rallied his troops and 
advanced from the west. The men of Leggett's and Giles A. Smith's 
divisions once more jumped over their breastworks and fired upon the ad- 
vancing lines. The soldiers called it practising " Hardee's Tactics." 
There was humor in tlie remark, for before the war General Hardee pub- 
lished a volume with that title. This advance of Cheatham was mainly 
against the Fifteenth Corps. Walcott's brigade, the first north of Leg- 
gett, had its right flank in a thicket, its left flank on a knoll. The other 
brigades of Mors^an L. Smith's division were farther east. Smith ordered 
Walcott to fall back, but General Leggett asked him to remain. 

"I am ordered," said Leggett, "by Sherman to liold this hill at all 
hazards, and if yon fall back my flank will be exposed." Walcott saw 
that it would be better to remfiin where he was. (") We come to the crit- 
ical moment of the battle. It was four o'clock — possibly later, for men 
take little note of time in battle — when Hardee's artillery opened fire 
from tlie south-east, followed once more by an attack on Giles A. Smith, 

In the morning we saw the Sixty-eighth Ohio, under Colonel Welles, 
taking part in the repulse of the attack upon the Sixteenth Corps. The 
regiment had returned, w\as coming down from the north, and was in posi- 
tion to deliver its fire squarely into the faces of the Confederates. Leg- 
gett moved Malloy's brigade to face the south, and the 2-t-pound howitzers 
were turned in the same direction. While Hardee was getting ready to 
attack, Leggett's men seized their shovels, and in a few moments had a 
line of breastworks running eastward at a right angle with that on the 
hill. Hardee had captured two of Giles A. Smith's cannon, had wheeled 
them, and was firing upon the hill. General Blair, commanding the Sev- 
enteenth Corps, had his line admirably arranged, and was read_y to receive 
the last grand assault. The men who had held the hill through the day 
had no intention of yielding it now, although Hardee was to attack from 
the south and Cheatham fi-om the north and west. 

Cheatham's sharp-shooters sheltered themselves behind a house, fired 
from its windows, picked off the gunners of De Gress's battery, and shot 
the horses, Manigault's brigade of Confederates was massing behind some 
buildings. Suddenly they swarmed out, rushed upon the battery, seized 
the guns, and turned them upon Smith's troops, De Gross went back to 
Sherman with tears dropping from his eyes. His cannon were first heard 



356 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

at Sliiloli, had tlinndered in nearly all the great battles, and he was heart- 
broken over his loss. The Confedei'ate assault was so vigorous that 
Smith's and Wood's troops by the railroad were driven from their in- 
trenchments. General A¥ood hastened to Sherman for ordei-s. 

"My left is driven in, and my connection with Leggett broken," he 
said to his commander-in-chief. 

" Wheel your brigades to the left, advance in echelon, and strike the 
enemy in flank," was the order, 

Sherman sent a messenger to Schofield with this order : " Mass your 
artillery on yonder hill and open fire." Schofield put twenty pieces into 
position a short distance west of the Howard House, and opened a destruc- 
tive fire upon the Confederates. Wood's brigades wheeled round from the 
north-east, coming upon the flank of the Confederates under Manigault. 
Down by the railroad Logan, with hat in hand, was riding along the line 
shouting, " Remember McPherson ! Avenge his death ! Don't let the 
Fifteenth Corps be disgraced !" 

Going north now, along the line of the Fifteenth Corps, we find Morgan 
L. Smith's division extending to the railroad. Two cannon of De Gress's 
battery (A, First Illinois) were near a house by the railroad, supported by 
the One Hundred and Eleventh Illinois Regiment. When the battle be- 
gan in the morning the other regiments of Martin's brigade went npon the 
double-quick to the assistance of the Sixteenth Corps. They were the 
Fifty-fifth and One Hundred and Seventh Illinois, Fifty-seventh Ohio, and 
Sixth Missouri. The withdrawal of these regiments left a weak line at this 
point near the railroad, north of which was C. R.Wood's division, reaching 
to Schofield. Sherman's headquarters were in the rear of Wood's at the 
Howard House. 

It was late in the afternoon when Cheatham again advanced, rushing 
upon the battery, overwhelming the regiment in support. 

The Union lines which a few moments before were disorganized took 
form once more. Soldiers who for a moment had been fainthearted were 
themselves again under the magnetism of their coiumander. Martin's 
brigade came into position, and resolved that the cannon whose thunder 
had been music to their ears in many battles should be recaptured. Cap- 
tain De Gress was ruiming along the lines pleading Avith the soldiers to 
get them back. ('') Sweeny's brigade of the Sixteenth Corps was there to 
help the Twelfth and Sixty-sixth Illinois and Eighty-first Ohio. The ad- 
vance of the lines of both brigades was like the rush of a whirlwind that 
sweeps everything before it. They recaptured the guns, and drove the 
Confederates in complete rout towards Atlanta. 



APPKOACHING ATLANTA. 



357 



While Cheatham was thus being rolled back from his position the rest of 
the Union troops were giving the final repulse to Cleburne, driving him back 
into the woods. The sun went down with the guns still flashing. A por- 
tion of Maney's division of Confederates crept along the intrenchments 
south of the fort, still hoping that by some sudden movement thej might 
get possession of the hill ; but Sherman's lines were stronger than when 
the battle began, while Hood's were terribly shattered. The Union loss in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners was about thirty -five hundred, while the 
Confederate loss is supposed to have been nearly ten thousand. To the 
Confederates it was one of the most disastrous conflicts of the war. Walk- 
er's division never again appeared as a separate organization, but the bri- 
gades were broken up and distributed to other commands. The battles 
of Peaclitree Creek and Atlanta, brought on by General Hood, had both 
resulted in irretrievable disaster to the Confederate cause. 



(,0 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XIII. 

Gen. J. E. Johnston, "Narrative of Military Events," p. 345. 

Copy of Letter in possession of the Author. 

Gen. J. E. Johnston, "Narrative of Military Events," p. 347. 

Idem, p. 348. 

E. A. Pollard, "Lost Cause," p. 377. 

J. W. Avery, " History of Georgia," p. 279. 

Geu. J. E. Johnston, "Narrative of Military Events," p. 348. 

Idem, p. 349. 

J. W. Avery, " History of Georgia," p. 279. 

Idem. 

Gen. J. E. Johnston, "Narrative of Military Events," p. 349. 

"Memoirs of Gen.W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 72. 

Idem, p. 76. 

Idem. 

Account of Orderly A. G. Thompson, in possession of the Author. 

"Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 78. 

General Leggett's Account. 

" Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 8L 



358 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 

THE siege intrencliments which were begun by General Grant east of 
Petersburg consisted of redoubts, connected by lines of parapets with 
ditches and fallen trees, sharpened stakes, and chevaux-de-frise. When 
those were constructed, it was intended that they should be held by a por- 
tion of the army, while another portion should make a movement towards 
the south-west, to gain possession of the railroads, and attack General Lee 
wdienever any advantage could be gained. 

The Second Corps crossed the Ngrfolk railroad and the Jerusalem plank 
road, which runs south-east from Petersburg, and took position on tlie left 
of the Fifth Corps. General Meade ordered the movement 
with the intention of reacliing the Weldon Railroad, which 
also runs south from Petersburg. Barlow's division was on the extreme 
left, and within two miles of the railroad. During tlie night the Sixtli 
Corps came up on the left of the Second, to be ready to move with it. 
General Lee discovered the change in position, and directed Gen. A. P. 
Hill to march out from the intrencliments and meet the movement. 

In years gone by the region had been a tobacco-field, but by long culti- 
vation the fertility of the soil had been exhausted, and wdiere once the 
slave-ji'anff tilled the ffroiind stood an impenetrable thicket of 

June 22, 1864. , f • t ta- i /• i 

scrubby pmes. It was so dimcult tor the two corps to move 
connectedly that the Sixth Corps took a road which led past the house of 
Mr. Williams, separating it from the Second Corps, which was making its 
way towards the Globe Tavern, which stood near the railroad. It was 
three o'clock in the afternoon, and tlie troops of Gibbon's and Mott's 
divisions of the Second Corps were building breastworks, and Barlow's 
division was on the march towards«the tavern, when Mahone's and John- 
son's divisions of Confederate troo^DS came through the woods and fell upoi 
Barlow's flank and rear. The attack was so sudden that Barlow's troop 
had no time to form. Some were taken prisoner, and the whole command 
scattered. Mott's division, next in line, retreated before the Confederate 



THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 



361 



who rushed upon Gibbon, capturing a large number of prisoners and four 
cannon. There was little fighting. It was a very successful movement on 
the part of A. P. Hill, who fell back to his intrenchments with the four can- 
non and seventeen hundred prisoners. The disaster was keenly felt by the 
Second Corps, which, through all the war, up to that moment, had not lost 
a gun. 

Recovering from the disaster, the Second Corps moved forward in 
compact order, accompanied by the Sixth, both corps building breastworks 

about a mile and a half from the railroad, with the picket 
June 22, 1864. t ,, . , , . ^ 

Ime well advanced towards it. 
It was two o'clock on the morning of the 22d that Generals Wilson and 
Kantz, with five thousand cavalry, started south-west, and reached the 
AYeldon Railroad at Ream's Station, where they tore up the track. Turn- 




TEARING UP THE RAILS. 



ing north-west, the cavalry pushed on to the South Side Railroad, leading 
west from Petersburg, striking it fourteen miles west of the city, tearing 
up the rails for thirty miles to Staunton River. General Kantz found 
the bridge across that stream protected by a strong military force, with 
cannon, and he could not burn it. 

The Confederate cavalry under W. II. F. Lee attacked the rear of Wil- 
son's troops nearly one liurdred miles west of Petersburg. Finding that 
his provisions were nearly gone, and having committed great havoc along 
the railroad, General Wilson turned south-east, came to the Weldon road 
at Stony Creek Station, ten miles below Ream's Station, where he was 
confronted by a division of cavalry under Hampton. A battle began wliich 
23—2 



362 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

lasted till ten o'clock at night. General Kantz at midnight started north 
up the Halifax road, towards Ream's Station. It was daylight before 
Wilson conld withdraw from his position. Hampton's troops followed 
him two miles, but the Confederate commander, seeing the direction which 
Wilson was taking, hastened along another road to cut him off. Kantz 
reached Ream's Station, and found himself confronted by Fitz-Hugh Lee. 
Captain Whittaker, with a message to Meade, dashed through the 
Confederate lines. It was eleven o'clock in the morning when he 
reached General Meade's headquarters on tlie Jerusalem 

June 28, 1864. ., i.i •^ n t->?0' r-^ 1 

plank road, eight miles irom Keam s Station. General 
Lee was informed of the situation, and sent Mahone's division to help 
capture the Union cavalry. Finding themselves cut off from the Union 
army, Wilson and Kautz destroyed their wagons and caissons, issued all 
their ammunition, and at noon turned south, along tlie Halifax road, tow- 
ards I^ottoway River, intending after crossing that stream to move east- 
ward twenty miles, and then turn north. Before tliey could get away, 
Mahone and the Confederate cavalry advanced, separated Kautz's division 
from Wilson's, throwing the rear of both into confusion. Kautz, finding 
that he could not reunite with Wilson, made a movement which the Con- 
federates did not mistrust he would attempt — crossed the railroad between 
Ream's Station and Rowanty Creek. In passing through a swamp liis 
cannon sunk so deep in the mire that he spiked and abandoned them, but 
just at dark reached the army. 

General Wilson the while was pushing south towards Stony Creek, ac- 
companied by more than one thousand negroes who had left tlieir masters 
to find freedom, as they hoped, under the Stars and Stripes ; but they 
could not keep pace with the cavalry and were left behind. Tlie Union 
troops reached Jarrett's Station on the Weldon road, rested a little while, 
and then moved on, and came to Nottoway River at Peter's Bridge. They 
found it partly destroyed, but in a short time trees were felled, stringers 
put in place, and the bridge made passable. AVhen the last man was over, 
it was again destroyed, thus foiling Hampton and Fitz-IIugh Lee, who 
were close behind. On the afternoon of July 2d, Wilson reached tlie 
Army of the Potomac, having been gone ten days, during which time he 
had marched over three hundred miles, and destroyed sixty miles of rail- 
road. Twelve cannon had been abandoned, and fifteen hundred men were 
missing; most of them liad fallen out of the ranks through the breaking 
down of their horses, and had been captured by the Confederates. So 
arduous and fatiguing this march that many of the soldiers fell asleep 
while sitting in tlieir saddles, and some of them dropped off to sleep in 







» . V ^^-^M 




^m 






' IS Hi 1(11 



HHf 




usBtiE«t^<mam TrK«a)^:3igitiTA34iwfflrtKi»A J attvj i 



THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 



365 



battle. A large number of horses broke down and were abandoned. The 
men were covered with dust, were worn and weary. They had lived on 
scant rations. The longest lialt made at any time did not exceed six 
hours. 

Although so long a line of railroad-track had been destroyed, the Con- 
federate Government soon had a large force of negroes and white men at 
work repairing it, and in a few weeks the cars were once more in motion. 




SOLDIERS WELLS. 



The sun shone during these summer days from a cloudless sky. For a 
period of forty-seven days no rain fell. The springs dried. The dust was 
ankle-deep, but the surface soil was porous, and a few feet below it in the 
clay subsoil there was water in abundance. The soldiers dug wells behind 
the intrenchments, erected sweeps, attached buckets, and so had delicious 
cool water to drink. 



366 REDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

Through the days tlie sharp-shooters of both armies were on the look- 
out. If a soldier raised his hat aboV'C the breastwork it was sure to be 
pierced by a bullet. Here aud there along the lines, day and night the 
cannon were thundering and rnortars sending their shells in ^^ai'abolic 
curves through the air. Colonel Abbott, of the First Connecticut Artil- 
lery, was in command of the siege-train. He had forty rifled 30-pounder 
Parrot -guns, sixty mortars of various sizes, and six 100 -pound Parrot- 
guns. 

In the Ninth Corps was a regiment from Pennsylvania, the mem- 
bers of which, before the war, were engaged in mining coal. It was the 
Forty-eighth Regiment, commanded by Colonel Pleasants, who knew all 
about mining. The regiment was in a ravine behind breastworks only a 
few hundred feet from the Confederate works. Colonel Pleasants, after 
surveying the ground, thought that he could dig a passage-way into the 
bank of the ravine, carry it under a Confederate redoubt w'here there 
were several cannon, and lay a mine, which, when exploded, would make 
such a break in tlie Confederate works, and create so much havoc and con- 
fusion, that with troops massed, ready to rush in when the mine was 
touched off, the w'hole line of Confederate earthworks in that vicinity 
might be seized. The engineer officers of the army doubted if a mine 
could be excavated, but General Burnside thought that it could be done. 
General Meade gave his consent. The men went to work digging the 
gallery, bringing out the earth in bags at night, and* distributing it so that 
the Confederates should not detect any change. Although carried on 
with great secrecy, the Confederates discovered that something was going 
on. A countermine was attempted and given up for want of tools ;(') 
but a second line of works was erected in the rear, and cannon placed to 
pour a cross-fire upon the spot which General Beauregard expected would 
be blown up. He also gave minute instructions to the officers in the men- 
aced quarters, so that when the explosion came there would be no panic 
or confusion, but a quick concentration of troops. The gallery was five 
hundred and eleven feet in length, with two branches, one thirty-seven 
and the other thirty-eight feet long.f/) There were eight magazines, each 
charged with one thousand pounds of powder. While the mine was being 
excavated through the month of July, a sharp fire was kept up between 
the Ninth Corps and the Confederates. Every day from thirty to fifty 
men were killed or wounded by the sharp-shooters or by shells from the 
mortars. The casualties were equally great on the Confederate side. 

It was thought that if a movement were made towards Richmond north 
of the James, the Confederate line near Chapin's Bluff might be success- 



THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 369 

fully assaulted, and that such a movement would compel Lee to send 
troops from Petersburg to meet it, which would give greater chance for 
success with the mines. (^) 

Wliile the miners were carrying in the powder and doing the last work, 

the Second Corps, under Hancock, who had returned to it, marched to 

Point of Kocks, on the Appomattox, crossed that river, and 

July 27, 1864. , , . ,. \ 

kept on north, m rear of General Butler's troops, towards 
Deep Bottom, on the James, accompanied by the cavalry under Sheridan. 
Going up to Deep Bottom, we see a little stream named Bailey's Creek 
coming down from the north and emptying into the James. Were we to 
go up the creek we should come to the New Market road, which leads to 
Eichmond. Beyond it is the mill of Mr. Fressell, on the Derbytown 
road, also leading to Eichmond. General Foster, commanding the Tenth 
Corps, had two bridges across the James, one above the mouth of Bailey's 
Creek, the other below it. 

General Grant intended that the Second Corps should cross the upper 
bridge and move towards Chapin's Blnif, while the cavalry should cross 
the lower bridge and move rapidly towards Eiclimond up the roads lead- 
ing to the city. When General Hancock reached the upper brido-e he 
found that the Confederates had a strong line of works beyond it. He 
did not think it best to attempt to attack at that point, and so turned east, 
crossed the lower bridge, and marched up the east bank of Bailey's Creek, 
but very soon found his march disputed by Kershaw's division behind 
breastworks with several cannon. The Union skirmishers dej>loyed in tlie 
fields, the ISIinety-ninth and One Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania and 
Seventy-third jSTew York, the One Hundred and Eighty-third Pennsylva- 
nia, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, and Forty-sixth Michigan, under Gen. 
Nelson A. Miles, who looked over the ground and led the troops through 
a ravine, and rushed upon the breastworks, capturing four 20-pound Par- 
rot-guns and some prisoners. Great the rejoicing in the Second Corps 
over the success thus attained. The troops tossed their caps in the air, 
and gave a grand hurrah ! They felt that they had made good the loss of 
McKnight's battery in the movement towards tlie Weldon Eailroad, The 
Second Corps moved on to Bailey's Creek, but found that the Confeder- 
ates had a strong line of works along the western bank, and that the trees 
had been cut down in front, making a barrier which could not be carried. 
General Grant arrived, and looked over the ground and saw that nothing 
could be accomplished, for Lee had hurried a large number of troops 
across the Appomattox to resist the movement ; not only Kershaw's but 
Wilcox's and Heth's divisions. Sheridan found himself confronted by 
24 



370 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Confederate infantry and W. H. F. Lee's division of cavalry. In a sharp 
contest Sheridan captured two hundred prisoners. 

General Grant, knowing that more than lialf of Lee's army was north 
of the Appomattox, detached Mott's division from tlie Second Corps, and 
directed it to hasten back to Petersburg, to be ready for an active part if 
the explosion of the mine was as successful as was anticipated, leaving Sheri- 
dan and Hancock with two divisions of his corps to make a strong demon- 
stration at Bailey's Creek ; but when night came they also took up their 
line of March for Petersburg. 

All preparations had been made for the explosion. In 1861: science 

and invention had not discovered that an electric battery might be used for 

firino^ mines, and Colonel Pleasants was oblio;ed to use sev^- 

July 30, 1864. ^ ,- n r rp • ^i ^— ^ • r j 

eral sections of fuse, io insure tlie nring, a tram of powder 
was also laid on the night of the 29th. 

General Meade at the outset doubted if the mine could be excavated, 
but it had been completed. He objected to the selection of the colored 
troops to lead the assault, although General Ferrero had drilled them with 
that object in view. He thought that if they were to fail, it would be said 
that they were putting the colored people in to get killed ; but no such 
criticism would be heard if white troops were to lead. General Burnside 
had great confidence in the efficiency of the colored troops. He thought 
that the other troops had been so long accustomed to shelter themselves 
under the intrenchments that General Ferrero's troops would be more efii- 
cient as soldiers. His objections were overruled by General Meade, and 
it was then decided that lots should be drawn in the selection of troops to 
lead the assault. The lot fell to General Ledlie's division. (^) Butler's 
troops were placed in position to open fire upon the Confederate batteries, 
and the trooj^s of the Second, Eighteenth, and Fifth corps were to be 
ready. 

The mine was under the Confederate redoubt held by Elliott's brigade, 
south of which was Wise's and then Colquitt's ; north of Elliott's were 
Rawson's and Grade's. These brigades constituted Johnson's division. 
Hoke's division continued the line to the Appomattox ; Mahone's was on 
the right of Johnson's, extending towards the Weldon Railroad. 

On this midsummer morning, at half-past three, just as day is breaking, 
the fuse is lighted. The troops of the Ninth Corps are waiting. The artil- 
lerymen are by their guns, ready to open fire. An hour passes, but there 
is no sign of explosion. Lieut. Jacob Douty and Sergt. Henry Rees, 
of the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, who have excavated the mine, creep into 
the gallery and find that the fire has gone out ; that the powder laid in the 




s"^^^' ^S^^t.'' ''4A,r' ^ifv "''^ 1 \'^^;t^ 



THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 373 

trough has beconic damp by tlie thirty hours' exposure. They strike a 
match, rehght the fuse, and flee from the gallery. Five minutes pass and 
then there is a trembling of the ground, a rumbling like that of an earth- 
quake, and a great mass of earth rises in the air, together with timbers, 
cannon, and men. The explosion has made a crater nearly two hundred 
feet in length, sixty in width, and nearly thirty deep. The Confederate 
troops are appalled at the spectacle. A moment later the Union cannon 
open fire. Ten or fifteen minutes pass before General Ledlie's troops reach 
the crater. They do not rusli through it, but halt within it, when they 
should be pushing across the space beyond, to seize the several lines of in- 
trenchments. Fatal delay ! Confederate batteries soon open upon tliem, 
and the troops, which for nearly two months have been sheltering them- 
selves from the fire of the enemy behind breastworks, are loath to advance. 
Wilcox's and Potter's divisions reach the crater, but are not led by their 
division commanders, and in a short time there is a mass of men huddled 
into the excavation and under the breastworks. The Confederates, seeing 
the Union troops halting in the crater, quickl}" opened a destructive fire. 
General Beauregard, awakened by the explosion, sent Colonel Paul to 
General Lee for troops, and then hastened towards the scene, and direct- 
ed the movements of the troops. (^) A Confederate ofiicer says : " In less 
than five minutes' time our men recovered from their panic, and we fired 
rapidly and with great execution. About the same time the battery on 
the left of the ravine, a short distance in rear of Rawson's brigade, did 
great execution, and fired about six hundred shots in a short time. The 
others, in rear and on the right, also did good execution." (") 

The Confederate batteries poured their shells and canister with great 
precision into the crater, doing such execution in the halting troops that 
many of the soldiers began to run. It was half-past seven when the colored 
troops, under General Ferrero, were ordered forward. None of the divis- 
ions of the Ninth Corps advanced so bravely. A Confederate writer gives 
this testimony: "They moved across the open space between the Federal 
and Confederate lines into, out of, and beyond the crater ; but at this point 
they broke, under the fierce artillery fire there concentrated upon them, 
and after having been partially reorganized, broke again, now fleeing in 
wild disorder into and out of the crater back to General Burnside's 
lines." (') 

"We are not to think that the Union troops are doing nothing; on the 

contrary, a fierce fight is going on as they attempt to force their way 

along the trenches. "Numbers of them got into the ditch of the gorge 

line," writes a Confederate historian, " where a hand-to-hand fight ensued ; 

24* 



374 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

while others, creeping along the glacis of the exterior line, got over the 
parapet of the main trench. The troops on the right and left fought 
them from behind the traverses, and from the barricades thrown up at 
the angles of the trenches ; while the adjacent brigades, from their main 
parapets, the covered ways and ravines running to the rear, from bomb- 
proofs, concentrated a deadly fire on such of the Federal forces as were 
marching across from the river." (') 

Tiiere is much discrepancy in the reports and accounts of the Union 
officers in regard to the battle, but for want of prompt and energetic action 
the opportunity to win a victory w^ent by. General Grant came at nine 
o'clock, surveyed the scene, saw that every chance of success was lost. 
" These troops must be immediately withdrawn. It is slaughter to leave 
them there," he said.(°) General Meade directed the withdrawal of the 
men, but not till nearly eleven were they back once more in their in- 
trenchments — not all of them, for more than thirty-five hundred had been 
killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, while the Confederate loss was about 
fifteen hundred. ('") 

So what promised to be a cheering victory ended in disheartening 
disaster to the Army of the Potomac, but with exultation to the Con- 
federates. 

Though the attempt to break the Confederate lines had ended in 
failure, there was no letting up of effort and vigilance on the part of 
General Grant. The Engineer Corps established its posts of observation 
in tall trees, whence, with their glasses, they could overlook the Con- 
federate lines ; the batteries and earthworks were made stronger, so that 
they could be held by fewer troops. Had we been inside the Confederate 
lines we should have seen General Lee doing the same, that he might 
have a movable body to be used wherever most needed. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XIV. 

( ') Alfred Roman, 'Military Operations of General Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 260. 

{ ^) Colonel Pleasant.s' account, "Attack on Petersburg," p. 4. 

( 3) Gen. U. S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 310. 

( ^) Gen. A. E. Burnside's account, "Attack on Petersburg," p. 17. 

( ^) Alfred Roman, "Military Operations of General Beauregard," vol. ii., p. 263. 

( «) Colonel McMaster's Report, quoted, 'Military Operations of General Beauregard," 

vol. ii., p. 263. 
{ ') Idem, p. 264. 
( *) Idem. 

( 9) Gen. A. Badeau, " Military History of General Grant," vol. ii., p. 482. 
(•") Gen. B. R. Johnson's and Colonel McMaster's statements, in " Military Operations 

of General Beauregard," Appendix to chap, xxxix. 




engineer's lookout. 



MOBILE BAY. 377 



CHAPTER XV. 

MOBILE BAY. 

THE rain -drops falling on the mountains of northern Alabama, and 
the springs wliicli gargle from their sides, give rise to two great 
rivers — the Alabama and Tunibigbee — which pour their floods into Mo- 
bile Bay, an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico, whose entrance was guarded 
before the war by Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. When Alabama se- 
ceded from the Union in January, 1861, Governor Moore, of that State, 
ordered the forts to be seized and garrisoned by the militia. For three 
years the flag of the Confederacy had floated above their ramparts. Fort 
Morgan was situated on the main-land and guarded the eastern entrance. 
It was built of brick, and the walls were nearly five feet thick and mount- 
ed eighty-six cannon. Outside the fort, in batteries, were twenty-nine ad- 
ditional guns behind banks of sand. Within the fort was a citadel or 
stronghold, whose brick walls were four feet thick, with loop-holes for 
musket-tiring. The fort was garrisoned by six hundred and forty men. 

Three miles westward of Fort Morgan is Dauphin Island, upon which 
stood Fort Gaines, also built of brick, in the form of a star, mounting 
thirty heavy cannon, and garrisoned by eight hundred men. To guard 
against the entrance of small vessels to the bay at flood tide, lines of piles 
had been driven by the Confederates across the reaches of shoal water be- 
tween the forts and the channel, narrowing the passage-way to three hun- 
dred yards, so close to Fort Morgan that a vessel would be subjected to 
the fire of all the guns of the fort and the batteries. Six miles west of 
Fort Gaines was another channel, through which vessels of light draught 
might enter the bay. It was called Grant's Pass, to guard which the Con- 
federates constructed Fort Powell, upon which several heavy guns were 
mounted. 

While the Union and Confederate governments during the winter of 
1863-61: were preparing for the great struggles in Virginia and northern 
Georgia, wood-choppers were felling trees in Alabama, and floating them 
down the river ten miles to Selma, hewing them into timbers for the con- 



378 EEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

striiction of an iron-clad vessel to aid in preventing a Union fleet from 
entering the bay, and for breaking the blockade. When the hull was com- 
pleted it was floated down the Alabama River to the city of Mobile. The 
craft was two hundi-ed and nine feet long, forty-eight broad, with slop- 
ing sides two feet thick, covered with six inches of iron ])lating man- 
ufactured in the rolHng-mills at Atlanta. A sharp-pointed iron spur pro- 
jected from the bow below the water — a beak to be thrust into the side of 
the wooden ships of the Union fleet, should they attempt to enter the bay. 
The vessel was named the Tennessee^ and carried six heavy rifled Brooke 
cannon, two of which were pivot-guns that could be fired in any direction, 
and threw solid projectiles that weighed one hundred and ten pounds ; the 
other four cannon threw solid shot that weighed ninety-flve pounds. The 
Tennessee was far more formidable than the Merrimac^ which created 
such havoc ofi: Fortress Monroe in March, 18G2 ("Drum-beat of the Na- 
tion," chap. viii.). The steering apparatus was not well planned, and the 
engines, taken from a river steamboat, were weak ; but aside from these 
defects, the vessel was more than a match for all the wooden ships of 
the United States navy. The Confederates had no machine-shops for the 
construction of powerful marine engines, and the Tennessee^ with her can- 
non and coal on board, could make only six knots an hour. The vessel 
drew so much water that not till the cannon were taken out and great 
flat-boats, called " camels," were fastened to her sides and filled nearly 
full of water, and the water pumped out, thereby lifting the Tennessee^ 
could the vessel be taken across the bar below Mobile. It 

Mav, 1864. . . i i , -n nr ti i 

was a task requn-nig so mucli labor that not till May did she 
steam slowly down the bay, and drop anchor on the east side of the 
channel near Fort Morgan, accompanied by three wooden gunboats — the 
Morgan^ carrying six guns ; the Gaines, six ; and the Selma, four. 

Further, to prevent the Union fleet from entering the bay, two lines 
of torpedoes were anchored between Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. 

Not much was known by the Government at Washington about the 
Teyinessee. The newspapers of the South gave no information. Deserters 
from the army of General Johnston, at Dalton, told great stories about 
the vessel which some calm night would send to the bottom of the sea the 
Union fleet blockading the entrance. 

From the beginning of the war the Confederate sentinels, facing the 
ramparts of Fort Morgan, looking seaward, could always see the Stars and 
Stripes flying above the decks of several war-ships. On calm nights they 
could hear, perchance, the dipping of oars in the water as the adventurous 
sailors paddled their boats close up to the channel, ever on the watch for 



MOBILE BAY. 



379 



any swift steamer built in England, ai'riving from Nassau laden with 
goods, or departing with a cargo of cotton. 

Admiral Farragut, after his great service on the Mississippi, was given 
command of the fleet off Mobile Bay, and after recruiting his health by a 
visit to New York, hoisted his flag once more above the deck 
of the Ilarfford^ and began preparations to attack the Con- 
federate fortifications. In the liglit-draught gunboat Octorora^ accompa- 
nied by the Itasca, on a clear bright day, he steamed up to Sand Island, 
and took a look at the fortifications and the Confederate gunboats. 



Jan. 20, 1864. 




OFF MOBILE BAY AT NIGHT. 



"I am satisfied," he said, "that if I had one iron-clad at this time I 
could destroy their whole force in the bay, and reduce the forts at my 
leisure, by co-operation with our land force — say five thousand men. "We 
must have about two thousand Ave hundred men in the rear of each fort, 
to make regular approaches by land, and to prevent the garrison from re- 
ceiving supplies and reinforcements ; the fleet to run the batteries and 
fight the flotilla." (') But he had no iron-clad vessels. Men were hard at 
work in the ship-yards at Brooklyn constructing a fleet of monitors. 

A few days later Admiral Farragut steamed up Grant's Pass with the 
small gunboats, and bombarded Fort Powell. The Confederates replied 



3S0 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

with their rifled guns, striking a mortar schooner four times, but only 

wounding one man. Admiral Farragut wrote this in his journal : " We 

silenced them in an hour and a quarter, causino; them to 
Feb. 24, 1864. .... . 

remain in their dodging-holes until we stopped at sunset. 

We were four thousand yards off, Ij'ing fast aground, and could get no 

closer."(°) 

Admiral Farragut could not carry out his plan for capturing the forts, 
for want of co-operation on the part of the army. General Canby, in 
command at New Orleans, had no troops to spare for such an expedition 
till midsummer. 

AVhat Admiral Farragut had waited for came at last — four monitors 

and a division of troops under Gen. Gordon Granger. There were not 

enouHi troops in invest both forts, and they were landed on 

All"-. 4, 1864. . . . 

° ' Dauphin Island to begin the investment of Fort Gaines. 

How loyal and noble was tlie man commanding the fleet of war-vessels off 
the bar of Mobile Bay is seen from the letter which he wrote to his wife 
on the evening before he was to fight a great battle. 

" I am going into Mobile Bay in the morning, if God is my leader, as 
I hope he is, and in him I place my trust. If he thinks it is the proper 
place for me to die, I am ready to submit to his will in that as in all other 
things. My great mortification is that my vessels, the iron-clads, were not 
ready to have gone in yesterday. The army landed last night, and are in 
full view of us this morning, and the Tecuinseh has not yet arrived from 
Pensacola. God bless and prepare you, my darling, and my dear boy, if 
anything should happen to me."(') 

The Tecumseh arrived, making the fleet complete. Admiral Farragut 
paid attention to things which might seem to most people to be of little 
moment. He studied the ebb and flow of the tide, the direction of the 
winds during the summer day. He noticed that at a certain hour the 
water was ruffled by a gentle breeze from the west, which would carry 
the smoke of his guns towards Fort Morgan and envelop it in such a 
cloud that the Confederate gunners would not be able to take good aim. 
The sailors had gone up the channel in the night, and secured a torpedo, 
which he examined ; and he saw that if he went in on the flood tide, the 
apparatus by which the torpedo Avas to be exploded would be tilted 
towards the harbor by the swirling current, and would be less likely to 
explode than if tilted seaward by an ebb-tide. Besides, if the engine of a 
vessel should become disabled, flood tide would be likely to sweep it into 
the harbor. As the channel was within two liundred yards of Fort Mor- 
gan, and two miles distant from Fort Gaines, he would pay no attention 




ADMIRAL FARRAGUT. 



MOBILE BAY. 



383 



to the latter, but pour liis broadside upon Fort Morgan. lie ordered the 
heavy guns of the port side to be shifted to starboard. The boats of the 
ship were lowered into the water upon the port side, to be ready for use 
should they be needed. Bags were tilled with sand and piled against the 
bulwarks, making a wall of sand four feet in thickness. 

Admiral Farragut had fourteen wooden ships which he intended to 
use in passing the forts and fighting the Confederate fleet, leaving six 
ffunboats outside to maintain the blockade. The vessels were to be 




SECURING A TORPEDO. 



coupled, lashed side by side, so that if one, perchance, were disabled, the 
other would carry both safely past the forts, with the tide setting into the 
bay. It was to be a procession of ships. This the order : 

1. Brooldyii, twenty-four guns. Captain Alden ; Octorora^ six guns, 
Lieutenant Greene. 2. Hartford, twenty-one guns, Admiral Farragut 
and Captain Drayton ; Metacomet, six guns. Lieutenant Jouett. 3. Rich- 
mond, twenty guns. Captain Jenkins ; Port Royal, six guns. Lieutenant 
Gherardi. 4. Lackcnmnna, eight guns, Captain Marchand ; Seminole, 
eight guns. Commander Donaldson. 5. Monongahela, eight guns, Com- 
mander Strong; Kennebec, five guns. Lieutenant McCann. 6. Ossipee, 
eleven guns, Commander Le Eoy; Itasca, five guns, Lieutenant Brown, 



384 EEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

7. Oneida^ nine guns, Commander Mullany ; Galena^ ten guns, Lieuten- 
ant Wells. 

The Octorora, Metacomet, and Port Royal had side wheels, and sharp 
sterns as well as bows, so that by reversing the engines they could go 
backward and forward alike. They were built to navigate rivers, and 
were called " double-enders." The others were screw steamships. 

The four monitors were to form a procession by themselves, the Te- 
cumseh, carrying two guns, leading, followed by the Manhattan with two 
guns, the Winnebago and Chickasaw four guns each. They Avere to pour 
their fire upon Fort Morgan till the wooden ships were past it. Admiral 
Fari-agut intended to lead in the Hartford., but as the BrooMyn had an 
apparatus projecting from her bow for picking up torpedoes, that ship 
was permitted to lead the column. The vessels were to steer east of a red 
buoy, which was supposed to mark the beginning of the torpedoes. The 
Confederates had placed the buoy in position for the benefit of vessels 
running the blockade. 

Admiral Buchanan, who commanded the Merrimac in the battle with 
the Monitor ("Drum-beat of the Kation," chap, viii.), commanded the 
Tennessee. He knew by the arrival of Admiral Farragut's ships from 
Pensacola on the afternoon of August 4th, and by what was going on in 
the fleet, that the ships would soon make the attempt to pass the forts. 
He believed that the Tennessee., with two feet of solid timber on her slop- 
ing sides, plated with seven inches of iron, was invulnerable. He had 
good reason for believing that she would prove more than a match for all 
the fourteen wooden ships ; but possibly remembering what took place in 
Hampton Roads, he stood in some fear of the four monitors, which he 
could see at anchor under the lee of Sand Island down the harbor. 

As the fleet, after entering the bay, was to co-operate with the army 
for the capture of Fort Gaines, signal-officers from the army were placed 
on the several vessels of the fleet — very fortunately, as we shall see. That 
he might survey Fort Morgan and the Tennessee once more before going 
into battle, Admiral Farragut stepj^ed on board the little steamer Cowslip., 
which made its way well up towards the fort. He was accompanied by 
Captain Percival Di-ayton of the Hartford. Farragut had just passed his 
sixty-third year. He was still hale, hearty, vigorous, energetic. He had 
a kind heart and resolute will. Everybody loved him. He looked at the 
fort with his glass, and saw that it had been greatly strengthened by the 
Confederates, who had piled bags filled with sand against the walls. He 
saw the Tennessee., b'^"g ^^^ ^ huge black turtle in the calm waters be- 
yond the fort, with the three Confederate wooden vessels near at hand. 



MOBILE BAY. 385 

We are not to think that every man born in the Confederate States 
fought against the Stars and Stripes. On the contrary, there were 
notable examples of loyalty. Captain Winslow, wlio sent the Alabama to 
the bottom of the sea, was from North Carolina. Captain Percival Dray- 
ton, who stands by the side of Admiral Farragut, was born in South Caro- 
lina, and showed his loyalty and devotion to the Union in the bombard- 
ment of the forts at Port Royal, although his brother commanded the 
Confederates in the forts (" Drum-beat of the Nation," j). 123). Here he 
is scanning eagerly the forts, the Confederate fleet, the reach of water 
where with the rising sun of to-morrow he will again render great and 
honorable service to his country. 

At sunset the last orders are issued. Every commander knows what 
he is expected to do. In the fading hours of the summer day a gentle 
breeze born of tlie sea is wafted inland with the tide. It enters the 
open ports of the ship, cools the heated air of the wardroom, where the 
officers are writing letters to loved ones far away. Possibly their hands 
never again will hold the pen ; that with to-morrow's sunset their voices 
will be silent evermore. But there is no blanching of faces. Not one of 
them but would think it a hardship were he to be ordered otherwheres 
and not take part in tlie battle. Not that they delight in carnage ; not 
that they thirst for glory, but that they are to sustain the honor and 
dignity of the flag that was flrst dishonored at Sumter. Duty nerves 
them ; and so with firm step they walk the deck, look up to the eternal 
stars in the heavens above them — ready to die, if need be, that the nation 
may live. 

"Admiral," said one of the officers to Admiral Farragut, "won't you 
give the sailors a glass of grog in the morning — not enough to make them 
drunk, but just enough to make them fight well ?" 

"Well," replied the admiral, "I have been to sea a good deal in my 
life, and have seen a battle or two, but I never found that I needed rum 
to enable me to do my duty. I will order two cups of good coffee to each 
man at two o'clock, and at eight o'clock I will pipe all hands to breakfast 
in Mobile Bay." (^) 

Three o'clock. Day is breaking, and on everj^ ship the boatswains' 

whistles are piping. " How is the wind ?" Admiral Farragut asks from 

his berth. " South-west, sir." is the reply from the steward 

AU2. 5, 1864. c ^ TT ^ -, m, .1, . 

01 the Hartford. "Then we will go in tins morning." (^) 
It is spoken cheerily, as if the day had been selected for a picnic or a 
pleasant excursion up the bay. After midnight there had been fog, but it 
was drifting landward and the rising sun would burn it away. 
25 



836 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

Tlie gunboats selected to accompany tlie larger vessels ran alongside 
their consorts, and were laslied together by heavy cables. All the top- 
masts and spars had been left at Pensacola. The sun appeared before the 
signal to move on fluttered from the main-mast of the Hartford, and then 
the grand procession, like a brigade of troops at review, moved slowly 
np the channel, the Brooklyn and her consort leading, and the monitors 
keeping pace in a procession by themselves a short distance to the left. 

Six o'clock. The Confederate vessels move from their anchorage into 
the channel, the Selma on the right in advance, the Tennessee near the 
red buoy. Two guns break the stillness of the morning, fired by the 
Tecumseh, and then comes an interval of silence. The fleet is yet too far 
away for effective work. Ships and fort alike wait. 

Six minutes past seven. From the barbette and casemates of Fort 
Morgan, from the batteries on the sand-hills, flames leap forth, and the 
air is filled with strange screechings as the solid shot and shell stream 
upon the Brooklyn. And now forts, batteries, monitors, and ships, from 
stem to stern, are clouds of flame and smoke. In the turret of the Tecuni- 
seh stands Captain Craven and John Collins, his pilot, looking through 
the narrow peep-holes in the dome of iron tosvards the red buoy, wdiich 
from this position seems to be very near the beach. " It is impossible 
that the admiral means us to go inside that buoy; I cannot turn my 
ship," said Craven to the pilot. "Starboard the helm!'' lie shouts. (°) 
It was a sad mistake. The Tecumseh turns her prow westward towards 
the Tennessee, which has moved in that direction. Her cannon are 
loaded with sixty pounds of powder and jointed steel shot ; but suddenly, 
as if a giant Avere atteinpting to lift the monitor, the Tecumseh rolls on 
one side, and her propeller whirls in the air. A torpedo has exploded be- 
neath her. Pilot and captain instantaneously attempt to get through the 
narrow passage leading from the dome. " After you, pilot," are the 
courtly words of the great-hearted Craven. John Collins and a few of 
the sailors leap from the turret into the sea, but before the others can 
reach the deck the vessel disappears beneath the waves. Of one hundred 
and fourteen men on board, only twenty-one are saved. 

The smoke was so thick that Admiral Farragut climbed to the main 
rigging to see what was going on. Captain Drayton, fearing that a sud- 
den jar might jostle him, sent Quartermaster Knowles to tie him to the 
shrouds with a rope. (') The pilot, Martin Freeman, was farther up in the 
main-top, giving directions to the men at the wheel how to steer. The 
admiral saw the Brooklyn stop and begin to back. "What's the matter 
with the Brooklyn ? She must have plenty of water there." " Plenty 



MOBILE BAY. 389 

and to spare," is the pilot's answer. (") Down in the hold of the Hart- 
ford^ where the surgeon is ready to care for the wounded, is aruij Signal- 
officer John C. Kinney, with his signal-flag. Admiral Farragut has or- 
dered hiui to remain there during the battle. 

"Send up a signal - officer ; the BrooUyji. is signalling!" is shouted 
down the hatchway. Lieutenant Kinney runs up with his flag, waves it 
in response, and receives the message, " Monitors right ahead." 

"Order the monitors ahead, and go on," the reply. (') This the ac- 
count of Lieutenant Kinney. More dramatic the scene as recorded by 
Admiral Farragut's son : 

" What is the trouble ?" 

" Torpedoes." 

" the torpedoes ! Go ahead. Captain Drayton ! Four bells. Full 

speed, Jouett !"('") 

The bells in the engine-rooms of the Hartford and Metacomet tinkled, 
and the two ships shot ahead of the Brooklyn, taking the lead of the 
column, passing harmlessly across the line of torpedoes planted beneath, 
which failed to explode. So the Hartford took her position with the 
Metacomet at the head of the line. To have halted under the full fire of 
the fort, with the Selma raking the decks, with the fleet pressing on, would 
have resulted in disaster. 

The Hartford is receiving the fire of nearly all the Confederate can- 
non. The men in tlie fort see the admiral's flag flying above her deck. 
It will be something to boast of, if they can send her to the bottom of the 
sea. A shot strikes the foremast ; then one weighing one hundred and 
twenty pounds splinters the main-mast. Timbers are crashing, shells ex- 
ploding, men are torn to pieces; but all the while her guns are thunder- 
ing, sending such a torrent of shrapnel upon the batteries that the Con- 
federate gunners are compelled to lie down under their breastworks. In 
the water, struggling for life, are the men who leaped from the Tecumseh. 
Admiral Farragut sees them. " Send a boat for them, Mr. Jouett ; pick 
up the poor fellows," he shouts to the captain of the Metacomet. But 
Captain Jouett has already sent Ensign Nields with a boat. Nields is 
but a boy, but he bravely steel's the boat, unmindful of the shells bursting 
around him, or the solid shot screeching through the air, to within a few 
hundred yards of the Confederate cannon, unfurling a flag, placing it in 
the socket, so gallantly that the Confederates looking out from the em- 
brasures of the fort will not fire upon so brave a boy, saving the lives of 
drowning men.(") He picks up Ensign Zetlich and eight men, takes 
them to the Oneida, and stands ready to take part in the battle. 
25* 



390 REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

The Brooklyn, by lier backing, is lying across tlie channel, with her 
bows pointed towards the fort, and the whole fleet is brought to a stand- 
still, with the cannon of the fort and the Tennessee, Selma, and Gaines 
doing terrible execution on the ships, one shot cutting off both legs of one 
sailor, and, as he tlu'ows up his arms, another shot cuts off both hands. In 
this moment of confusion Admiral Farragut does not lose his head, but 
with clear comprehension as to what ought to be done, what must be 
done, issues his orders to go ahead, and the Hartford, with the Metacomet 
by her side, obeys her helm, passes the BrooMyn, and with full steam 
sweeps on. A few moments and she is a mile distant from the rest of 
•the fleet, beyond the reach of the guns in the fort, but alone with the 
Tennessee and the other Confederate vessels. 

It was this decision of the moment that brought order out of confu- 
sion, and the Brooklyn, followed by the other vessels, moved on — each 
vessel pouring grape and shrapnel into the Confederate batteries — all pass- 
ing safely except the Oneida, last of the line. A rifled shot exploded in 
one of her boilers, another in her cabin, cutting the wheel-ropes, a third 
set the ship on fire. The escaping steam scalded the fireman and coal- 
heavers, but the engine had still one boiler left and the vessel went on. 
The sailors put out the fire, new ropes were attached to the wheel, and all 
the while her guns were flaming. Assisted by the Galena, the Oneida 
went on as if nothing had happened. 

Brave deeds w^ere being done in these moments. On the Hartford six 
men were tugging at a pulley, lifting shells from the hold, when a shell 
from the fort exploded among them, killing or wounding all six. John 
Lamson was wounded in the leg and hurled against the bulwarks, but lie 
would not go below. A few moments later he was once more tugging at 
the rope. 

The cannon in charge of Coxswain Thomas Fitzpatrick was disal)led 
by having its gearing cut away. Seven of his men were killed, and 
several others wounded, himself among them ; but he had the wounded 
cared for, repaired the tackling, got a new crew, and once more had his 
gun in action. On the Brooklyn the rod of the sponge broke in one of the 
guns, but Coxswain Edwin Price poured powder into the vent and touched 
it off, thus blowing out the broken part, and went on with the firing. 

"Right abreast of the fort 
In an awful shroud they lay, 
Broadsides thundering away, 
And lightning from every port — 
Scene of glory and dread I 



MOBILE BAY. 391 

A storm-cloud all aglow 

With flashes fiery red — 

The thunder raging below ; 

And the forest of flags overhead." 

Up the narrow cliannel moved the Hartford and Metacomet. Tlie 
Selma had chosen a position from wliicli her sjuns raked the Hartford 
from stem to stern, doing great damage. On lier starboard bow were the 
Gaines and Morgan^ bnt the broadsides of the Hartford were turned npon 
them, and they moved away, the Gaines in a sinking condition. The Ten- 
nessee was in motion towards the Hartford^ which attempted to strike tlie 
iron-ckid bnt failed. Both vessels fired as they passed, the shells of the 
Tennessee missing their aim, the solid shot of the Hartford making no 
more impression upon the iron-clad than gravel thrown against a house. 

Buchanan determined to send the Hartford to the bottom of the sea by 
thrusting the iron prow of the Tennessee through her side, but Farragut 
avoided lier thrusts. The Confederate commander then started for the 
Brooklyn, sending two shots which went clear through the latter vessel, 
then passed on to the Riclimond, which hurled her shot against the iron- 
clad, as did the Lackawanna. Captain Strong, of the Monongahela, de- 
termined to give the Tennessee a blow, but it only turned the iron-clad 
partly round. The Confederate vessel then sent a raking fire npon the 
Oneida, wounding Commander Mullany. The three monitors, up to this 
moment, had remained in front of Fort Morgan pouring in their fire. 

"Gunboats, chase enemy's gunboats," was the signal from the Hart- 
ford.n 

"Ay, ay, sir. Cut the ropes there !" the response of Captain Jouett. 

The Metacomet swung away from the Hartford, followed by the Itasca, 
Port Royal, and Kennebec. The fleet was past the forts, and no longer 
was there need of being coupled ; they were inside the bay, and had only to 
deal now with the Confederate fleet. The Morgan stranded upon a shoal, 
but backed off, and ran to find shelter under the guns of the fort. The 
Metacomet, flying like the wind, was soon pouring her fire upon the Selma, 
one shot killing the executive otficer and several of the men, whereupon 
the flag was hauled down in token of surrender. A shell made a great 
rent in the side of the Gaines, disabling the vessel, which was burned. 

At nine o'clock, three miles above the fort the vessels of Admiral Far- 
ragut's fleet came to anchor. The sailors cleared the wreck from the decks 
and sat down to eat their breakfast. 

The Tennessee, the while, was lying near the fort, and the officers and 
men were looking to see what damage, if any, had been done. They saw 



392 



KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



only a few lioles in the smoke-stack, and dents where the Union shot had 
struck. Admiral Buchanan, believing that the vessel was impregnable, 
resolved to attack the fleet, first sinking the wooden ships and then engag- 
ing the three monitors. Admiral Farragut the while was laying his plans 
to wait till night and then attack the Tennessee under the walls of the fort 
with the three monitors. ('') "She's coming!" was tlie cry from every 
Union ship. " Attack her, bows on, full speed !" the order from Farra- 
gut. The boatswain's whistle rang sharp and clear, piping all hands again 
to quarters. The Monongahela was the first to strike the Tennessee, receiv- 
ing two shots, Avhile the shots of the Monongahela only struck and rolled 
into the water, doing no harm. Not so the bolts from the Chickasaw. 




THE "SELMA" surrendering TO THE "METACOMET." 
From a Sketch made at the time. 



This the story, as told by an officer of the Tennessee : " The 3£onongahela 
was hardly clear of us when a hideous monster came creeping np on our 
port side, whose slowly revolving turret revealed the cavernous depths of a 
mammoth gun. ' Stand clear of the port side !' I sliouted. A moment 
after a thundering report shook us all, wliile a blast of dense sulphurous 
smoke covered our port-holes, and four hundred and forty pounds of iron, 
impelled by sixty pounds of powder, admitted daylight through our side, 
where, before it struck us, there had been over two feet of solid oak, cov- 



MOBILE BAY. 



39J 



ered with four inclies of solid iron. It did not come through ; the inside 
netting caught the splinters. I was glad to find myself alive." (") 

Down upon the Tennessee came the Lackawanna and the Hartford, 
striking a fearful blow, each firing every gun of hei- broadside — the shot 




iyl)^T GAINES 
'dauphin I. 



PELICAN I. 





THE BATTI-E OF MOBILE BAY. 



Brooklyn 

Octoi'ora 

Hartford 

Metacomet 

Richmond 

Poit Royal 

Lackawanna 

Seminole 

Monoiigaliela 

Kennebec 

Ossipee 

Itasca 

Oneida 

Galena 

Teciimseh, sunk by rorpedo. 
Manhattan 



■ Wooden Vessels. 



• I Iron-clndu. 



Iron-clnds 



C. Winnebairo \ 

D. Chickasaw ) 

E. Course of Union Fleei. 

F. Ram Tennessee 1 

G. Morgan , ^^,,,^1 Vessels. 

H. Gaines | 

I. Selma J 

J. Course of Ram. 

K. Retreat of Reliel W.ioden Vessel.". 
L. Morgan and G.aines's cnnrse towards Fort Moi'gan. 
M. Hartford turning out for Hrooklyn to back. 
N. Course taken by Ram during second attack. 
O. Ram surrendered. 
P. Selma surrendered to Metacomet. 
Q. Formed line ; read prayers. 
R. Union Fleet anchored. 



394 REDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

only denting tlie iron plating. The Lachawanna, in attempting to strike 
the Confederate craft, came in collision with the Hartford^ ahnost sinking 
botli vessels. All were ponring in their shot, bnt it was the Chickasaw 
which followed the Tennessee as the kingbird follows the liawk, sending at 
tifteen rods solid shot, cutting the rudder-chain of that vessel. The Os- 
sipee was jast ready to strike her. Admiral Buchanan was wounded. 
" Well, Johnston, they have got me. You'll have to look out for her 
now !" his words to Captain Johnston. 

"I'll do the best I know how,"(") the reply. 

The shot of the Union cannon had jammed the covers of the fore-and- 
aft port-holes so that they could not be opened. The smoke-stack of the 
iron-clad tumbled to the deck, and the furnaces would no longer draw, 
nor would she obey her helm. None of the guns could be trained upon 
the Union vessels. Like the blows of a giant's sledge-hammer were the 
solid shot from the Chickasaio pounding at the stern. 

"I cannot bring a gun to bear upon them,"' the words of Captain 
Johnston. 

" Well, if you cannot do that any more you had better surrender," was 
the reply of Admiral Buchanan. ('") 

The iiag-staff had been shot away, but a white flag, hung upon a boat- 
hook, was raised above the Tennessee. The Ossipee was bearing down at 
the moment to giv^e another blow. Captain Stevens, in command, saw 
Johnston standing upon the deck, with the white flag above him. Before 
the war they were friends; during the conflict the}' had been enemies. 
This the hail from the commander of the Ossipee: 

" Hullo, Johnston, old fellow ! how are you ? This is the United 
States steamer Ossipee. I'll send a boat alongside for you. Don't you 
know me ?" 

Captain Stevens meets him at the gangway with cheery words. " I'm 
glad to see you. Here's some ice- water; I know you are dry. I've 
something better down in the cabin for you." In the cabin they drink 
a glass of wine. "Steward, attend to Captain Johnston's wishes." ('") 
Such the kindness and courtesy to an old friend in the hour of his humil- 
iation. 

On tlie Hartford the brave old admiral was standing beside the row of 
dead, twenty-five in number, with the tears rolling down his cheeks as 
he beheld their mano-led forms awaitino:; befittino; burial. Three hundred 
and thirty-five had been killed, drowned, or wounded on the Union ships ; 
ten killed and sixteen wounded on the Confederate. 



w O 

i 3 







MOBILE BAY. 397 

" Up weut the white ! Ah, then 
The hurrahs that, once and again. 
Rang from tliree thousand men, 
All flushed and savage with tiglit ! 

"Our dead lay cold and stark, 
But our dying, down in the dark. 
Answered as best they might, 
Lifting tlieir poor lost arms. 
And cheering for God and right. 

"Ended the mighty noise — 
Thunder of forts and ships ; 
Down we went to the hold. 
Oh, our dear, dying boys ! 
Ilow we pressed their poor, brave lips, 
(Ah, so pallid and cold !) 
And held their hands to the last ! 
(Those that had hands to hold.) 

" Still thee, O woman heart ! 
(So strong an hour ago.) 
If the idle tears must start, 
'Tis not in vain they flow. 

"They died, our children dear. 
On the drear berth-deck they died ; 
Do not think of them here ; 
Even now their footsteps near 
Tlie immortal, tender sphere — 
(Laud of love and cheer, 
Home of the Crucified I) 

"And the glorious deed survives; 
Our threescore, quiet and cold, 
Lie thus ; for a myriad lives, 
And treasure, millions imtold. 
* (Labor of poor men's lives. 

Hunger of weans and wives — 
Such is war-wasted gold.) 

"Our ship and her fame today 
Shall float on the storied stream 
When mast and shroud have crumbled away, 
And her long white deck is a dream." 

While this contest was going on near Fort Morgan a fleet of five gun- 
boats was bombarding Fort Powell, guarding the western entrance to 
JMobilo Bay at Grant's Pass, and at the same time the troops npon Dan- 



398 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

pliin Island, under General Granger, after a long and wearying march 
through the sand, were closing around Fort Gaines, which was adding to 
the uproar of the morning by opening fire with its heavy guns. Very 
little damage was done to Fort Powell by the gunboats, which did not 
approach very neai' ; but at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Chickasaw^ 
having made her way across the bay, steaming up close to the fort, opened 
fire with its' 11 and 15 inch guns upon its eastern face, witli such effect 
that Lieutenant-colonel Williams, in command of the Confederate garri- 
son, telegraphed this message to Colonel Anderson, in Fort Gaines : 
" Unless I can evacuate, I will be compelled to surrender within forty- 
eight hours." 

"Save your garrison," (") the reply. 

The tide was out ; the Union fleet had not yet moved up to prevent 
the Confederates from making their way in boats to the main-land. 
Night settled down. It was past ten o'clock, when there came a bright 
flash, a deep, heavy roar, and timbers, gun-carriages, cannon, shell, and a 
great cloud of earth rose in the air, to rain down again upon the calm 
waters. Tiie Confederates had evacuated the fort, lighted a fire con- 
necting with the magazine, and made their escape. 

The troops on Dauphin Island had mounted fourteen rifled guns, 
and were ready to begin the bombardment of Fort Gaines from the 
west, while the fleet was preparing to assist on the north. 
°" ' ' ' Anxious to save men from being killed. Admiral Farragut 
sent a flag of truce to the fort, inviting Colonel Anderson to visit the 
Hartford for a conference. The invitation was accepted by that ofiicer, 
who was accompanied by Major Brown. General Granger and Captain 
Drayton, and other Union officers of the army and navy, were present 
when the two Confederate ofticers entered the cabin. " Surrounded on 
three sides by my vessels, and on the fourth by the arn)y, you cannot 
hold the fort. Submit like a man to the hard necessity, and prev^ent 
further loss of life," were the words of tlie admiral. 

Colonel Anderson could not deny that the fort was surrounded, and 
he appreciated the humanity that dictated tlie demand. Not so Major 
Brown. "Let us fight it out," he said. "Gentlemen, if hard fighting 
would save the fort, I M'ould advise you to fight to the death, but by all 
the laws of war you have no chance to save it," Farragut replied. 

Major Brown saw that with the Confederate fleet destroyed, with no 
means of reaching the land, there was no chance for escape, and it was 
agreed that the fort and garrison should be surrendered the next morning. 
So Fort Gaines came once more under the control of tlie United States. 



MOBILE BAY. 



599 



Aug, 9, 1864. 



A siunraons was sent to General Page, commanding Fort Morgan, 
who declined to surrender. 

The troops were transported from Dauphin Island and landed in Kavy 
Cove, four miles east of Fort Morgan, thus cntting off the retreat of the 
garrison. From that point they advanced westward, closing 
round the fort, throwing up breastworks, mounting twenty- 
live heavy guns, and placing sixteen mortars in position within five hun- 
dred yards of the fort. 

Ten days passed, the shariD-shooters the while keeping up such a fire 
that no Confederate would show his head above the intrenchments. At 
daylight the monitors, and all the vessels of the fleet, steamed 
down towards the fort, and all the cannon on shipboard, to- 
gether with the mortars and artillery on land, opened fire, continuing it 
through the day, sending a continuous stream of shot and shell upon the 



Aug. 22, 1864. 




""•guf^W"^ 



CAPTURE OF FORT MORGAN. 
From a Sketch made at the time. 



fortification. The sun went down, but a portion of the guns continued 
to thunder, a shell setting the barracks in the citadel on fire. AVhen 
the flames burst forth, once more the cannon of the fleet redoubled 
their firing. Within the fort the Confederate soldiers were throwing 
kegs of powder into the cisterns, fighting the flanies, and spiking the 
cannon. 

With the dawn of the morning a white flag was flung out above the 
fort, Mdiose walls had been honey-combed, whose guns had nearly all been 
disabled, together with sixty of the four hundred men of the 
garrison. With its surrender, vessels running the blockade 
could no longer enter Mobile. Once more the Stars and Stripes waved 



Aug. 23, 1864. 



400 EEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

over the fortification from which it had been removed when Alabama 
seceded from the Union. 

The taking of the fort closed anotlier port to the blockade-runners, 
leaving only Wilmington, Charleston, and Galveston — the last so far away 
that vessels entering there with supplies from Europe could contribute 
nothing to maintain the waning fortunes of the Confederacy. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XV. 

"Life and Letters of Admiral Farragut, " p. 303. 

Idem, p. 393. 

Idem, p. 405. 

W. H. Seward, "Diplomatic History of the War for the Union," vol. v., p. 193. 

A. T. Mahan, "Gulf and Inland Waters," p. 330. 

Idem, p. 231. 

J. C. Watson, "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," vol. iv. , p. 406. 

" Life and Letters of Admiral Farragut," p. 416. 

J. C. Kinney, "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," vol. iv., p. 387. 

"Life and Letters of Admiral FaiTagut," p. 416. 

Gen. R. L. Page, "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," vol. iv., p. 408. 

" Life and Letters of Admiral Farragut," p. 419. 

A. T. Mahan, "Gulf and Inland Waters," p. 340. 

Lieutenant Wharton, quoted by Commodore Foxhall A. Parker, "Battle of 

Mobile Bay," p. 35. 
Capt. J. D. Johnston, "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," vol. iv., p, 404. 
Idem. 
Idem. 
Commodore Foxhall A. Parker, "Battle of Mobile Bay," p. 38. 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 401 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FALL OF ATLANTA. 



T 



saulting the Confederate works, made strong bj the gangs of slaves 

at the outset, and made still stronger by the Confederate troops. General 

Hood, on the other hand, after the disastrous battles of Peachtree Creek 

and Atlanta, had no inclination to asi-ain march out from his 

July 23, 1864. . , , ., , tt • • i i2 i i 

intrenchments, and assail the Union troops m the open lield. 
The Union cavalry under General Garrard had destroyed thirty miles of 
the railroad leading east from Atlanta. There was still another road which 
must be destroyed before Sherman could cut oft" Hood's supplies — that 
leading south from Atlanta to East Point, six miles. From that station 
one line runs south-west to Newnan, thirty-nine miles, and then on to 
Montgomery ; the other line runs south eighteen miles to Jonesborough^ 
and from thence to Macon. If these could be effectually destroyed. Hood 
would soon be compelled to abandon Atlanta. General Rousseau, with a 
division of cavalry, had torn up a railroad in the south-west, at Opelika, 
and if the lines of communication could be broken in all directions, the 
Confederate army would be greatly hampered in its operations. 

Day and night men w^ere at work constructing a bridge across the 
Chattahoochee, which w^as completed in six days, and trains of cars arrived 
from Nashville bringing supplies. 

General Sherman called his officers together, not to ask them what 
they thought he ought next to do, but to tell them what he intended to 
do. They were seated on camp-stools in front of a small house. " I intend 
to place this army south-west of Atlanta," he said. He had approached the 
city from the north and east in order to destroy the railroad leading direct- 
ly eastward, the shortest line of connection with Richmond. He had re- 
ceived a despatch from General Grant, informing him that the Confederate 
Government had become aroused at the critical state of affairs around At- 
lanta, and that possibly reinforcements would be sent from the east to 
IlDod.(') By moving the army south-west, Sherman would be nearer the 
26 



402 REDEExMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

railroad which bronglit liim his own supplies than if lie were to marcli 
from the position he had ah-eady gained. 

General Stonetnan, eoninianding the cavalry, presented a proposition 
that one body of cavalry, under General MeCook, should start from the 
left flank of the ami}', tear up the track of the railroad leading south-west 
to Alabama, and then move on to Lovejoy's Station, on the Macon road, 
and tear up that track. Another body of troops, commanded by Stoneman 
himself, was to start from the east side of Atlanta, and make a forced 
march to Andersonville, one hundred and ten miles in a straight line, and 
liberate more than thirty thousand Union prisoners at that place, who 
w^ere suffering the horrors of starvation, and dying by the thousand through 
want of proper food, and from diseases generated by crowding so many 
men into a small prison-pen. 

It was a plan which awakened the sympathy of General Sherman and 
all the officers. If it could be carried out, it would soon return a large 
number of soldiers to the army ; but beyond that, it would release them 
from a prison where they were suffering indescribable horrors. The cav- 
alry of Garrard's division had just returned from destroying the railroad 
leading eastward, and the division under General Rousseau had arrived 
from a raid westward. The horses and men of those divisions were so 
worn that they were not included in the forces selected for these move- 
ments. The troops commanded l)y Stoneman were about five thousand, 
those under McCook numbered four thousand. It was a mistake, as we 
shall see, to divide the troops into two parties. United, and moving to- 
gether on parallel roads sufficiently near for quick concentration, they 
would have been strong enough to have met any force that could have 
been brought against them. We can now see that the plan was faulty in 
one other respect ; it aimed to accomplish two things : cripple Hood by 
destroying the railroads, and to release the prisoners. To release tlie pris- 
oners, the expedition ought to make a forced march and sweep down upon 
Andersonville as an eagle upon its prey, before there could be any great 
concentration of Georgia militia or Confederate troops to defend the pris- 
on. The Confederates would have the advantage of whirling troops by 
rail to that point, not only from Atlanta but from Charleston and Savan- 
nah. It was therefore quite doubtful if even nine thousand Union cavalry 
would be able to overcome the force that would be likely to confront them 
from behind fortifications. By stopping to destroy long sections of rail- 
road-track valuable time would be lost. Starting from two points, with a 
watchful foe before them, and a Confederate cavalry force as large as the 
two Union divisions combined, was a serious mistake. It would have been 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 



403 




"I INTEND TO PLACE THIS AKMY SOUTH OF ATLANTA." 

far better if tlie expedition had moved as one body, with a single object in 
view, and that tlie thorough destruction of long sections of each raih-oad. 
With that accomplished, the cavalry might have returned, and after two or 
three days' rest, before Hood could have relaid the tracks, the entn-e force 
with Garrard — a body of twelve thousand — could have made a forced 
march to Andersonville, with a fair prospect of reaching the prisoners be- 
fore any large body of Confederate troops could have been concentrated 
there. We have seen how nearly Kilpatrick came to reaching Eichmond ; 



404 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

tlie chances for success in the movement to Andersonville wonkl have been 
much better if tlie cavaby under Stoneman and McCook had been united, 
and reinforced by Garrard. 

McCook was west of the Chattahoochee, and marched down its west 
bank to Campbellton, crossed on pontoons, made a qnick movement east 
to the raih'oad leading to Montgomery, striking it at Lovejoy's Station, 
thirty miles from Atlanta, and toi'e np a section of the track, burned sev- 
eral trains of cars, destro3^ed the locomotives and five hundred wagons, 
and captured four hundred prisoners; but the Confederate cavalry were 
soon upon him, and cars loaded with troops came rolling down from At- 
lanta. McCook could hear nothing of Stoneman, and made the mistake 
of attempting to return over the same route by which he had advanced. 
He was attacked at N^ewnan, and lost his prisoners and nearly six hundred 
of his men, but rejoined the army. The burning of the locomotives, cars, 
and wagons, however, was a serious loss to Hood. 

General Stoneman was at Flat Rock, south-east of Atlanta, and moved 
east to Covington, crossed the Ocmulgee River, turned south, struck the 
railroad leading eastward from Macon, and tore up a portion of the track, 
destroyed seventeen engines and one hundred cars, sent a portion of his 
troops eastward, and burned a bridge over the Oconee River, and then 
advanced to Macon. General Hood had discovered the movement, and 
saw what Stoneman intended to do. The Confederate cavalry were 
following him. The telegraph summoned troops from every quarter. 
Stoneman was east of the Ocmulgee, which he must cross before he could 
enter Macon. He planted his artillery, had a skirmish, fired shells across 
the river, and then fell back northward towards Clinton. He was more 
than forty miles from Andersonville, and saw that he could not reach it. 
He thought himself surrounded, and prepared to surrender, but author- 
ized his brigade commanders to cut their way out, while he, with seven 
hundred of his men, held the others in check. We now know that 
he greatly over-estimated the number of Confederates confronting him. 
Had he acted with resolution and vigor, it is probable that he would have 
cut his way through and saved his command. The result, instead, was 
that General Stoneman and seven hundred surrendered, and that several 
hundred others were gathered up by the Confederates before the main 
body reached the army. General Stoneman had been directed by General 
Sherman first to destroy the railroad leading to Macon, and then move 
on to Andersonville. He had not done so, but had ridden directly away 
from the railroad. The damage to the railroads was soon repaired, and 
General Hood's army did not materially suffer from what had been done. 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 405 

In the Confederate army Lieut.-gen. S. D. Lee was appointed to take 
command of Hood's old corps in place of Cheatham, who went back to 
his division. In the Union army General Howard was appointed to com- 
mand the Army of the Tennessee in place of McPherson, and General 
Stanley to command the Fourth Corps. General Hooker thought that 
his experience as commander of the Army of the Potomac and in com- 
mand of the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps at Lookout Mountain and Chat- 
tanooga, and of the Twentieth Corps during the campaign, entitled his 
promotion to command the Army of the Tennessee. Feeling himself ag- 
grieved by the selection of General Howard, he asked to be relieved from 
the further command of the Twentieth Corps. His request was granted. 
His troops loved him, and showed their affection for him when he bade 
them farewell by gathering around him as school-children around a be- 
loved teacher. His departure from the army marked the closing of his 
military service. 

General Sherman began his new movement. The Sixteenth Corps, 
which had been camping where it fous^ht on the 22d, marched 

Jiilv ''7 1864 r o » y 

in rear of the Army of the Ohio, also in rear of the Army 
of the Cumberland, and came to a road which leads west from the city to 
a village bearing the strange name of Lickskillet. General Blair, with the 
Seventeenth Corps, followed the Sixteenth, passed it, and came into posi- 
tion at Ezra Church. 

General Hood had anticipated such a movement, and the slave-gangs 
had been hard at work west and south-w^est of the city throwing up in- 
trenchments. He determined to fall upon the Seventeenth Corps at the 
church and crush it. He withdrew Loring's and Walthall's divisions of 
Stewart's corps from the intrenchments north of the city, and his own old 
corps under Lee, and brought them out over the Lickskillet road, Lee 
was to begin the attack at the church, while Stewart and Loring were to 
strike the Seventeenth Corps from the south, turning its flank. 

General Sherman saw what the probable movement of Hood would be, 
and ordered General Davis, with the Fourteenth Corps, to march in rear of 
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth towards the village of Lickskillet to head 
oS any possible movement which Hood might make. General Sherman 
and General Howard were with Logan, of the Fifteenth Corps, at Ezra 
Church when the Confederates advanced, Logan's troops 

July 29, 1864. , , , . . _, , ° ^^ ^ 

had tlirown up intrenchments. The attack was upon Mor- 
gan L. Smith's and Harrow's divisions. General Howard massed the artil- 
lery, which opened with a terribly destructive fire. The Confederates 
advanced bravely, but were cut down by the shot, shells, and musketry. 



406 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

They wavered, but were rallied by tlieir officers, and advanced once more 
only to be hurled back, with Generals Stewart, Loring, Brown, and John- 
son numbered among the wounded. The Union position was so well 
chosen, and the Fourteenth and Sixteenth corps so near at hand, tliat there 
could be but one result — failure to Hood. The loss in Logan's corps was 
less than six liundred. It will never be known how many Confederates 
fell, but six hundred and forty-two bodies were gathered after the battle, 
which, with the usual number of wounded, would make the Confederate 
loss not far from five thousand. The Confederates had fought bravely at 
Peachtree, and again east of the city, and now west of it, but had lost 
heavily and gained nothing. They were discouraged, and in the last as- 
sault many of them refused to advance. 

"How many of you are there left?" shouted a Union picket to a Con- 
federate. 

"About enough for anotlier killing," was the answer. 

The soldiers of the Twentieth Corps out on the picket line at a signal 

rushed upon the Confederate line so suddenly that they captured eight 

officers and more than one hundred men, and held the ground 

July 30, 1864. , . , ,i ,i . -, ^. ^ . i 

which they thus gamed, erecting new breastworks. 

General Sherman began to extend his line south-west of the city, but 
the Confederates had large working gangs building breastworks reaching 
towards Jonesborough. He sent to Nashville for Parrot siege-guns, placed 
them in battery with all his field artilleiy, and began a bombardment of 
the city, sending a continuous stream of shot and shell, which riddled the 
houses, and made it very uncomfortable for the people, who were obliged 
to live in cellars or in holes in the ground. 

General Kilpatrick came from the Army of the Potomac to command 
the cavalry. He tore up several miles of the railroad leading to Macon, 
but the Confederates soon repaired it, and two days later the cars were 
running into Atlanta. While Kilpatrick was thus engaged the Confed- 
erate cavalry under Wheeler moved north-east from Atlanta, crossed the 
Chattahoochee River, struck the railroad near Resaca, and captured one 
thousand of Sherman's beef-cattle. Wheeler demanded a surrender of Dal- 
las, but Colonel Raum, who was there with a small force, held him at 
bay till Gen. J. E. Smith came with a brigade, compelling Wheeler to re- 
treat. He burned the bridge across the Etowah River and tore uj) the 
track, but the railroad men soon had the trains running again. Wheeler 
continued north, intending to burn the bridge across the Tennessee River 
and destroy the railroad, so that Sherman would not be able to obtain sup- 
plies. Jefferson Davis recommended the movement. Wheeler could do 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 



409 



but little harm, for the bridges were well guarded. A few days later, when 
too late to recall Wheeler, Hood found that he sorely needed him. 

Sherman determined to compel Hood to give up Atlanta, which was a 
railroad centre, where there were iron-founderies and machine-shops, not 
bv throwing his troops against the intrenchments, but by leaving a portion 




'"^'^Aiii 



i'^\ 
^^j^^^^'-^^ 




'^ .1 >^"«ri 



EZRA CHURCH. 



Aug. 13, 1864. 



of his army at the railroad bridge across the Chattahoochee. " It was evi- 
dent," says General Sherman, " that we must decoy the enemy out to fight 
us on something like equal terms, or else with the whole army raise the 
siege and attack his communications." (*) 

To carry out the plan, the Twentieth Corps was sent back to the Chat- 
tahoochee River to protect the bridge, the trains, hospitals, 
supplies, and ammunition accumulated at that point. 
General Sherman was much pleased with the spirit manifested by Gen- 
eral Kilpatrick, who had torn up the railroad, and decided to suspend 
the movement of the army a few days, in order that Kilpatrick might 
make another movement to strike the railroad near Jonesborough, hoping 
that it would force Hood to give up the city, and that when the Con- 
federates evacuated the place he could strike him a damaging blow.(') 
26—2 



410 KEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

Two of GaiTarcFs brigades of cavalry were sent from the east side of the 

city round to Kilpatrick, who was west of it, and placed under command 

of that officer. It was after dark when Kilpatrick reached 

All':'. 18, 1804. , ., , ,i , i i • i i i 

tlie rauroad. He cut the telegrapli wires, l)urned the sta- 
tion, tore up three miles of the track, but was then attacked by a body 
of Confederates, He did not return the way he advanced, but turned 
north, rode round Atlanta, and rejoined General Sherman. He had caj)t- 
ured a battery and destroyed three of the cannon, and brought in one as 
a trophy. He thought it would take the Confederates ten days to re- 
pair the road, but two days later the Union troops on picket could see the 
cars rolling into Atlanta, and General Sherman came to the conclusion that 
cavalry alone could not do much damage to a railroad before they would 
be compelled to retreat. All of the attempts to permanently destroy com- 
munications, whether by Union or Confederate cavalry, whether in Vir- 
ginia or the west, had ended in failure, while tlie hard riding necessary to 
reach the distant points had resulted in the breaking down of horses and 
men. General Sherman has this to say of the cavalry movements on both 
sides : 

"We saw trains coming into Atlanta from the south, and I became 

more than ever convinced that the cavalry could not or w^ould not w^ork 

hard enough to disable a railroad properly, and therefore re- 

Aug. 23, 1864. - , ° -,.,,. r 

solved at once to proceed with tlie execution ot my orig- 
inal plan. Meantime the damage to our own railroad and telegraph by 
Wheeler about Hesaca and Dalton had been repaired, and Wheeler him- 
self was too far away to be of any service to his own army, and where he 
could not do us much harm."(^) 

General Sherman sent this despatch to General Halleck in Washing- 
ton : "Heavy fires in Atlanta all da}', caused by our artillery, I will be 

all ready, and will commence the movement around Atlanta 

Aug. 24, 1864. , , , • 1 T r. 

by the south to-morrow night, and for some time you will 
hear little of us. I will keep open a courier line back to the Chattahoo- 
chee bridge, !)y way of Sandtown. The Twentieth Corps wnll hold the 
railroad bridge, and I will move with the balance of the army, provisioned 
for twenty days." 

General Sherman was confident that the Confederate cavalry under 
Wheeler could not seriously interfere with the running of railroad trains. 
It was soon seen by the Confederate troops that Hood had made a mis- 
take in sending Wheeler northward into the State of Tennessee, A Con- 
federate writer says that "it was an irreparable blunder," (*) A Confed- 
erate has pictured the scene in iVtlanta : " There are excavations in the 




GEN. JUDSON KILPATRICK. 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 413 

ground, roofed with heavy logs, over wliich is heaped a luonntain of earth. 
Tlie garden to ahnost every house which does not boast of a celhar has one 
of tliese artificial bomb-proofs. They are perfectly secure against the 
shells, and many of them are quite comfortably furnished with beds, 
chairs, and other furniture. Women and children are huddled together 
in them for hours at a time, and when the city is furiously shelled at 
night, the whole community may be said to be underground." (°) 

The Twentieth Corps was marching north-west, to be the guard at the 
Chattahoochee. The Fourth Corps, under General Stardcy, was marching 
south towards Utoy Creek. Garrard's cavalry picketed their 
1 iig. - ., . . i^^j.ggg ^j^ j.|^g woods where the Confederates could not see 
them, and took the place of the departing troops in the trenches. As soon 
as it was dark on the night of the 26th, the Army of the Tennessee, under 
the command of Howard, left its trenches and moved south, unseen by the 
Confederates. 

When day dawned there was silence in the Union trenches — no bugle- 
call or rallying drum-beat, no smoke ascending from bivouac fires. The 
Confederates did not know what to make of it. The Con- 
Aug. . , 1864. £g^|j,j.,^|.^ artillery opened fire, to see if the exploding shells 
would not awaken the Union troops. A Confederate writer has peimed 
this description: "We sprang to our feet and grabbed our muskets, and 
ran out and asked some one the meaning of it. We were informed that 
they were 'feeling' for the Yankees. The comment that was made by a 
private soldier was simply two words — ' Oh shucks !' The Yankees had 
gone, no one knew whither, and our batteries were shelling the woods, 
feeling for them. ' 01 1 shucks !' " (' ) 

Hood's scouts discovered the movement of the Twentieth Corps north- 
west, away from Atlanta. They reported that Shersnan was retreating. 
Hood was delighted. He concluded that Wheeler was doing great things 
in Tennessee. He did not comprehend Sherman's tenacity of purpose, or 
the meaning of his movement, and telegraphed to Richmond that Sher- 
man was retreating. (") 

It is reported that a party of ladies and gentlemen came from Macon 
to rejoice with their friends over the falling back of Sherman's troops. 

The Army of the Cumberland took its noonday rest in a beautiful 

grove of oaks around Shoal Creek Church. General Sherman was there, 

talking with General Thomas in regard to the movement. 

""■ ' "^ ' ■ " It is somewhat hazardous for seventy thousand men to 

cut loose from their base of supplies and be dependent upon what we can 
pick up here and there," said General Thomas, as they stood by a fire 



414 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

wliere a soldier was down on liis knees roasting an ear of corn. General 
Thomas was very kind to liis troops, who loved and respected him as duti- 
ful children a kind father. lie talked with them, gave them counsel and 
advice, but required strict obedience to orders. " What are you doing ?" 
said General Thomas, addressing the soldier. 

"Why, general, I am laying in a supply of provisions," said the sol- 
dier, with a smile overspreading his face. 

"That is right, my man, but do not waste your provisiqn." 

The two commanders walked on, but they heard the soldier say, 
"Good old man; economizing as usual." (°) 

There was humor in the remark, for there were hundreds of acres of 
corn near at hand, the ears ripe for roasting. While talking with the sol- 
diers, they could hear the booming of the cannon of the Army of the Ten- 
nessee near Jonesborough. 

When General Hood learned from his scouts what General Sherman 
was doing, he sent off a large amount of supplies, and had trains of freight 
ears, with engines tired up, ready for a rapid transfer of troops to any 
point. General Hardee was near the village of Rough and Tieady, with 
Lee's corps on his right at East Point. General Hood, with Stewart's 
corps and the Georgia militia, were in Atlanta, M'hen the cannon were 
heard at Jonesborough. 

Logan's corps of the Army of the Tennessee had crossed Flint River 
and was only a mile from the railroad, and had fallen upon Lewis's bri- 
gade. "Move at once to Jonesborough," was the order from Hood to 
Hardee. Lee was directed to follow. "Attack with all force in the 
morning, and drive the enemy, at all hazards, into the river." ('") 

If the attack was successful, General Hood intended to bring back 
Lee's corps the next night to Rough and Ready, to join them with Stew- 
art's corps and drive Sherman down Flint River, while Hardee was to 
advance from Jonesborough. (") 

General Ransom, who had succeeded General Dodge in command of 
the Sixteenth Corps, was on Logan's right, covering his flank. During 
the night, the Seventeenth Corps, under Blair, arrived and covered Lo- 
gan's left. The soldiers could hear tiie rumbling of the trains, and knew 
that the Confederates were arriving from Atlanta. Howard ordered the 
soldiers to build intrenchments, and waited for the Army of the Cum- 
berland. 

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when the Confederates of Lee's 
corps advanced to attack Logan and Ransom, making a spirited assault on 
Ilazen's division, which was easily repulsed, with severe loss to the Con- 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 



41i 



Aug. 31, 1864. 



federates. Just after noon, Sehofield, with the Army of tlie Ohio, reached 
the raih-oad north of Jonesborough, at Rough and Ready. The troops came 
near capturing a train, but the engineer made his way back 
to Atlanta with the startling news. Hood, thinking that 
Sherman was marching north to close in upon the city, and not knowing 
that Hardee had attacked Howard and liad been repulsed, sent a courier 
ordering Hardee to march back to Atlanta. Lee thereupon moved north- 
east to avoid Sehofield at Rough and Ready, and was half-way back to 
Atlanta before Hood discovered that Sherman, instead of marching to 
Atlanta, M^as closing upon Hardee. There was but one thing to be done 
now; he must give up Atlanta and reassemble his scattered troops farther 
south. He sent word to Lee to * 

stop where he was till he could 
join him. 

While Hood was preparing 
to evacuate the place, the Four- 
teenth Corps, under Davis, was 
moving down the railroad tow- 
ards Jonesborough to strike Har- 
dee's right flank. The Confed- 
erates had thrown up a long line 
of intrenchments, beginning east 
of the railroad, running west, 
crossing it, then turning south 
on the west side of the village, 
and again crossing the railroad 
below the Baptist church, thus 
enclosing three sides of a quad- positions of the union and confederate 
rano-le. General Logan was west armies at jonesborough. 

of the village. General Ransom 

south-west, while General Davis, with the Fourteenth Corps, was north- 
west, and General Stanley, with the Fourth Corps, was on his way down 
the railroad. 

General Thomas sent an order to Stanley to take position on Davis's 
left flank. The afternoon was waning, and Sherman getting impatient. 
He desired Stanley to come round in Hardee's rear, but Stanley was so 
far away that Davis advanced to the attack without waiting for him. The 
Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth United States Infan- 
try, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Edie, constituted a brigade in Car- 
iin's division. Their position was in front of Govan's brigade in the 




416 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

Confederate works. Moore's brigade was to support Edie on the left. 
Estes's brigade of Baird's division was on tlieir right flank, and Morgan's 
division was beyond Estes's brigade. 

Going over now into the Confederate lines, we find Govan's brigade 
of Cleburne's division holding the angle, with Lewis's brigade extending 
east across the raih-oad, and Granberry's extending from the angle south- 
ward. It was a very strong position, for the angle was on a knoll, with 
open ground in front. Hardee's men liad used their shovels and axes to 
good advantage. Govan liad two batteries near the angle, which sent their 
shells down into the Union lines. General Thomas's batteries replied. 
Captain Prescott's battery sent an enfilading fire along the Confederate 
trenches. • 

The Union troops came into position while the artillery duel went on. 
General Baird and General Carlin rode along the line, giving their orders 
and encouraging the men. It was about one hundred rods from Edie's po- 
sition to the breastworks, across open ground swept by Confederate can- 
non. It was five o'clock in the evening of a beautiful summer day, when 
Edie and Estes moved up the slope towards the breastworks, together 
with Morgan's division on the west and Moore's on the north. They 
crossed the open ground, and rushed upon the intrenchments, leaped over 
the breastworks, and captured a large number of prisoners, driving the 
Confederates, who rallied and who were joined by a brigade in reserve, 
and the Union men in turn were driven. But they also rallied, regained 
the works and held them. The struggle was short and vigorous. Mor- 
gan's division closed in upon the right, and Moore's brigade on the left. 
It was like the springing of a net by a pigeon-catcher — a brief but des- 
perate contest, in which Govan's brigade was annihilated. The number 
of killed and wounded in Hardee's corps was about twelve hundred, with 
between eight and nine hundred taken prisoners. 

The movement of General Sherman had placed the whole of his army, 
with the exception of the Twentieth Corps, near Jonesborough. It was 
a compact body, while Hood's was widely scattered, with Stewart's corps 
and the Georgia militia in Atlanta, thirty miles distant from Hardee's 
corps; while Lee's corps was about half-way between the two, on its way 
back to Atlanta. A Confederate soldier has pictured the situation : 

"We could see the Yankee battle-flags waving on the top of red earth- 
works not more than four hundred yards off. Every private soldier knew 
that General Hood's army was scattered all the Avay from Jonesborough 
to Atlanta, without any order, discipline, or spirit to do anything. We 
could hear General Stewart in Atlanta blowing up arsenals, smashing 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 



41' 



things generally ; while Stephen D. Lee was somewhere between Lovejoy 
Station and Macon, scattering. And here was a demoralized remnant of 
Cheatham's corps facing the whole Yankee army. . . . We had everything 
against ns. The soldiers distrusted everything. They were broken down 
with their long day's hard marching, were almost dead with fatigue and 
hunger. Every one was taking his own course, and wishing and praying 




BATTLE OF JONESBOROUGH. 



to be captured. Hard and senseless marching, with little sleep, half ra- 
tions, had made their lives a misery. Each one prayed that all this fool- 
ishness might end, one way or the other." ('^) 

The pickets of the Twentieth Corps near Atlanta through the night 
could hear a commotion in the city. They saw the light of burning 
buildings; then came explosions of shells. General Slocum 
heard it, and ordered his troops under arms. He was confi- 
dent that Hood was evacuating the city, and soon after sunrise the men 
27 



Sept. 1, 1864. 



418 



REDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 



of the Twentieth Corps, with their banners waving above them, keepinii:; 
step to the drum-beat, marched through the streets. 

General Slierinan, twenty miles away, heard the explosion. lie did 
not know wliat to think of the volleys, and walked to the house of a 
farmer and roused him from .sleep. 

"Have you lived here long?" asked the general. 

" Yes." 

"Have you heard the cannonade and musketry of the battles around 
Atlanta ?" 

" Yes, sir ; and these sounds are just like those of a battle." 

General Sherman thought it possible that Slocum had been attacked. 
The sounds died away, but at four o'clock in the morning the explosions 
began again. Daylight dawned, and the Union troops around Jonesbor- 
ougli were ready to renew the buttle, but not a Confederate was to be seen. 




CAPTURE OF CONFEDERATE WORKS AT JONE8BOROUGH. 

From a war-time Sketch. 

All had gone. A courier came with a letter from Slocum written in the 
city. He had entered it unopposed. General Sherman sent the letter 
to General Thomas, who whistled, snapped his fingers, and was almost 
beside himself with joy, while the soldiers swung their caps, hurrahed and 
danced, and made the woods ring with their yells. A courier rode up to 
the Chattahoochee, and tliis message flashed from Sherman to President 
Lincoln : " Atlanta is ours, and fairly won." President Lincoln sent it to 
General Grant, in front of Petersburg, who ordered all the cannon to be 
loaded with shot and shell, and then at a signal all were flred at once, 
while the Union soldiers in the trenches yelled and screamed themselves 
hoarse over the news so joyful to them, so disheartening to the Confed- 
erates. 






3 H 



Z. H 




^-, />V 









» 1" r Wr'w 



FALL OF ATLANTA. 421 

Had General Sheniiaii known at midnight the true state of affairs 
within the Confederate lines, it is quite probable that Hood would have 
found it difficult to reunite his army ; or if General Davis had moved his 
corps, as he might have done, ou the evening of August 30th, Hardee 
would have been completely isolated from the other Confederate corps. 

The troops entering Atlanta found the smoking ruins of the foun- 
deries, machine-shops, and railroad cars, together with six disabled locomo- 
tives, a company of woe-begone men and women, and altogether an inde- 
scribable scene of desolation. Through the night Hood had been makino- 
a forced march towards the south-east, reassembling the shattered corps of 
his array at Lovejoy's Station, leaving behind a large number of wounded. 
Sherman advanced a portion of his troops to that point, but Hood retreated 
still farther, whereupon Sherman, needing supplies, decided to give his 
troops a little rest, and the army exultingly marched back to Atlanta. 
Hood had left twenty cannon, eiglit locomotives, and eighty -one cars 
which he had not time to remove, loaded with ammunition and supplies. 

"Atlanta is not taken, nor is it likely to be," were the exultant words 
of one of the newspapers in Richmond on the 25th of August. ('^) 

" So much for the removal of General Johnston. . . . The result is dis- 
aster at Atlanta in the very nick of time when such a victory alone could 
save the party of Lincoln from irretrievable ruin," were its words on the 
morning of September 5th. ('^) 

The loss of Atlanta — a raih-oad centre, with its machine-shops and foun- 
deries — the retreat of the army under Johnston from Chattanooga, the 
successive defeats under Hood, with the great losses, cast a deep gloom 
over the Confederate States, while throughout the Northern States there 
was great rejoicing. 

A large number of speculators who \vanted to obtain cotton, and trad- 
ers who wanted to open stores, had gathered at Nashville, expecting to 
reap a rich harvest at Atlanta, but General Sherman would not permit 
them to enter it. More than this, he determined to compel the few peo- 
ple who were there to leave, giving them the privilege of going South or 
North as thej'^ might choose. These were his reasons : 

" I was resolved to make Atlanta a free military garrison or depot, 
with no civil population to influence military measures. I had seen Mem- 
phis, Vicksburg, Natchez, and New Orleans all captured from the enemy, 
and each at once garrisoned by a full division of troops, if not more ; so 
that success was actually crippling our armies in the tield by detachments 
to guard and protect the interests of a liostile population. ... I knew, of 
course, that such a measure would be strongly criticised, but made up my 
27* 



422 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

mind to do it with the absohite certainty of its justness, and that time 
would sanction its wisdom." ('") 

General Sherman sent a letter by flag of truce to General Hood, in- 
forming him that he would send those who wished to go South, to Love- 
joy's, with all their goods ; and all the negroes who might desire to go 
with their old masters. General Hood protested against the measure. 
These his words : " It transcends in studied and ingenious cruelty all acts 
ever before brought to ray attention in the dark history of war. In 
the name of God and humanity, I protest, believing that you are expel- 
ling from their homes and firesides the wives and children of a brave 
people." (") 

Though thus protesting, General Hood consented to send wagons to 
receive the goods of the people. 

In regard to the protest General Sherman made this reply : " You 
style the measure unprecedented, and appeal to the dark history of the 
war for a parallel. It is not unprecedented ; for General Johnston him- 
self very ,wisely and properly removed the families all the way from Dal- 
ton down, and I see no reason why Atlanta should be excepted. . . . You 
yourself burned dwelling-houses along your parapet, and I have seen to- 
day fifty houses which have been rendered uninhabitable because they 
stood in the way of your forts and men. ... I say that it is a kindness to 
these families of Atlanta to remove them at once from scenes to which 
women and children should not be exposed. ... I ask you not to appeal to 
a just God in such a sacrilegious maimer. You, who, in the midst of peace 
and prosperity, have plunged a nation into war, dark and cruel, who dared 
and badgered us to battle, insulted our flag, seized our arsenals and forts 
that w'ere left in the honorable custody of peaceful ordnance sergeants, 
seized and made ' prisoners of war ' the garrisons sent to protect your peo- 
ple against negroes and Indians, long before any overt act was committed 
by the (to you) hated Lincoln Government ; tried to force Kentucky and 
Missouri into rebellion, spite of themselves ; falsified the vote of Louisiana; 
turned loose your privateers to plunder unarmed ships ; expelled Union 
families by thousands, burned their houses, and declared by Act of your 
Conojress the confiscation of all debts due Northern men for goods had 
and received. Talk thus to the marines, but not to nie, who have seen 
these things, and who M'ill this day make as tnuch sacrifice for the peace 
and honor of the South as the best Southerners among you. If we must 
be enemies, let us be men, and fight it out as we propose to do, and not 
deal in hypocritical appeals to God and Immanity. God will judge us in 
due time, and he will pronounce whether it be more human to fight M'ith 






s ^ 
p ^ 

& t?5 

5 S 

c- O 

It" 

> 

> 




FALL OF ATLANTA. 



425 



a town full of women and the families of a brave people at our back or to 
remove them in time to places of safety among their own friends and 

people." (") 

The mayor and some of the councilmen of Atlanta appealed to General 

Sherman to revoke the order, setting forth the hardship and suffering that 

would follow its execution. General Sherman admitted that it would cause 

great suffering. 

" I have," he said, " read your petition carefully, and give full credit 

for your statement of the distress that will be occasioned, and yet shall not 

revoke my orders, because they were not designed to meet the humanities 




GENERAL SHERMAN'S QUARTERS. 



/£-, 
^t.0. 



of the case, but to prepare for future struggles, in which millions of good 
people outside of Atlanta have a deep interest. We must have peace, not 
only at Atlanta but in all America. To secure this we must stop the war that 
now desolates our once happy and favored country. To stop war we must 
defeat the rebel armies which are arrayed against the laws and Constitution 
that all must respect and obey. . . . You might as well appeal against a 
thunder-storm as against the terrible hardships of war. They are inevita- 
ble, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in 
peace and quiet at home is to stop the war, which can oidy be done by ad- 
mitting that it began in error and is perpetuated *n pride. We don't want 



426 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



your negroes, or jour liouses, or yonv lands, or anything you have, but we 
do want and M'ill have a just obedience to the laws of \the United States. 
. . .When peace conies, you may call on me for anything. Then will I 
share with you the cracker and watch with you to shield your homes and 
families against danger from any quarter." ('"*) 

For ten days there was an armistice between the Union and Confeder- 
ate armies, during which the people were packing their goods. General 
Sherman detailed wagons and men to assist them, and gave strict orders 
against pillaging, and the officers and men did their work very kindl}^ and 
courteously, delivering them to the Confederate officers and soldiers de- 
tailed to receive them — thus mitigating in some degree the untold hard- 
ships and sufferings of the war. 



(" 



(.. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XVI. 

"i ^lemoirs of Gen. W. T. Shermai]," vol. ii., p. 85. 

Idem, p. 103. 

Idem, p. 104. 

Idem. 

J. W. Avery, "History of Georgia," p. 505. 

Corre.spondeiice of Chdiiexfoa Courier, August 29, 1864. 

S. R. WatkiiLS, "First Tennessee Regiment," p. 191. 

" Memoirs of Gen.W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 105. 

Idem. 

Gen. .1. B. Hood. "Advance and Retreat," p. 205 

Idem. 

S. R. Watl<ins, " First Tennessee Regiment," p. 199. 

Riclimond Era miner, August 25, 1864. 

Idem, September 5tli. 

" Memoirs of Gen.W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 111. 

Gen. J. B. Hood, "Advance and Retreat," p. 230. 

"Memoirs of Gen.W. T. Sherman," vol. ii., p. 120. 

Idem, p. 126. 



CONFEDERATE EAIDS. 427 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CONFEDERATE RAIDS. 

IN 1863 tlie energetic Confederate connnander, Gen. John H. Morgan, 
crossed the Ohio River below Cincinnati, rode tln-ongh Indiana and 
Ohio, but was captured and put in prison (see " Marcliing to Victory," 
p. 328). He had made his escape, and was once more in command of a 
large cavalry force in Virginia and East Tennessee. He was burning with 
desire to make another raid into his native State, Kentucky, to till up his 
ranks with the hot-blooded young men who admired his achievements. 
General Buckner, in command of the Confederates in Kentucky, ap- 
proved his plan. 

General Morgan was near Abingdon, on the East Tennessee Railroad, 
wlien he learned that General Burbridge, commanding the Union cavalry 
at Mount Sterling, was moving east to the valley of the Big Sandy River, 
to join anotlier body of troops, and that he was supposed to be on liis way 
to destroy the salt-works and lead-mines in south-west Virginia. A portion 
of General Morgan's troops had no horses, but it was thought tliat the 
movement into Kentucky would not only supply them with horses, but 
that a great deal of mischief might be done before Burbridge could turn 
back, which he would l)e likely to do instead of pressing on to Virginia. 

As the movement of Morgan was to be made across ranges of mount- 
ains, no cannon could be taken. He came to Pound Gap, in tlie Cumber- 
land range, which was held by a handful of Union cavalry, who 

June 2, 1864. ? ■, ■, -, -r. , • i Tir 1 ^ 

retreated, and who sent word to Burbridge. Morgan turned 
west, intending to reach Mount Sterling, and help himself to supplies from 
the Union storehouses in that town. His troops were not disciplined sol- 
diers, but mostly new men who liad joined him after his escape from 
prison, with the expectation of leading a wild, rollicking life, with oppor- 
tunities of helping themselves to plunder. He made such long marches 
that his horses began to break down. He seized all that he could find, 
also all the food he could obtain from the farm-houses and barns. He 
reached Mount Sterling, broke open the bank in the town, and plundered 



428 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

it of sixty thousand dollars. His men burst open the stores, and helped 
themselves to whatever they liked, making no distinction between those 
who sympathized with the Union and those who favored the Confederacy. 

General Burbridge learned of Morgan's movement, and started in pur- 
suit, marching two hundred and thirty miles in ten days. He reached 
Mount Sterling in the early morning, and dashed upon the pickets. The 
main body of Confederates quickly sprang to their saddles, charged ujjoii 
Burbridge's artillery, seized the guns, but were quicklj" driven in turn. 
It was a sharp engagement, soon over, the Confederates fleeing, with a loss 
of nearly five hundred men, most of whom were taken prisoners. 

General Morgan was not in the engagement. He had taken the route 
to Lexington with one brigade. He reached the outskirts of that town at 
midnight, set several buildings on tire to light up the scene. The handful 
of Union troops in Lexington retreated to a fortification overlooking the 
town, while the seventeen hundred Confederates broke open the stores 
and houses of Union men. He obtained ten thousand dollars from the 
Branch Bank of Kentucky, attempted to burn a large number of freight 
cars, but was kept at bay by the artillery of the Union ti'oops. Knowing 
that Burbridge would soon be upon him, Morgan hastened to Cynthiana, 
where he burned a portion of that town.(') 

The Union troops reached Lexington soon after the departure of Mor- 
gan and pressed on to overtake him. It was Sunday morning when Bur- 
bridge arrived at Cynthiana. He was delighted to learn that Morgan was 
waiting to give battle. He had not marched ninety miles in thirty hours (") 
to decline a contest after having brought the enemy to bay. He formed 
his lines, advanced, and opened fire, charging impetuously upon the Con- 
federates, who, after a sharp engagement, broke and fled in confusion. A 
small portion of Morgan's old soldiers rallied around him, but the large 
part of his force — men who had joined him not to fight but to pillage — ■ 
became panic-stricken, each man seeking his own safety. Morgan returned 
to Virginia with a small portion of his troops. Instead of retrieving his 
Avaning fortunes, he had lost the respect even of those who had been his 
friends, through the robberies committed b}^ his men. His biographer 
says: "He suffered from envy, secret animosity, and detraction within his 
own command. Many faithful friends still surrownded him, many more 
lay in prison, but he began to meet with open enmity in his own camp. 
. . . Reports of excesses committed in Kentucky had reached Richmond, 
and created much feeling." (') 

A commission was appointed by the Confederate Government to inves- 
tigate the charges. The ill success that had attended him, and the ap- 



CONFEDERATE EAIDS. 



129 



pointment of a commission, preyed upon his prond spirit. His face 
was care-worn, and instead of the enthusiasm of former days, he became 
listless. (*) 

Quite likely he saw, as many. saw, that the fortunes of the Confeder- 
acy were rapidly waning. "A conviction," wrote one of his officers, "was 
stealing upon the Confederate soldiers that tlie fiat had gone against ns, 
and that no exercise of courage and fortitude could arrest the doom."(') 

During the last week in August, General Morgan, witli sixteen hun- 
dred men, marched from Jonesborough, with the intention of driving 
General Gillera and a party of Union troops from Bull's Gap. There 
were not many Union troops in 
East Tennessee, and he hoped to 
drive them out. He reached the 
house of Mrs. "Williams, at Green- 
ville. She was loyal to the Union, 
and, mounting a horse, rode to 
the nearest Union pickets with 
the information tliat Morgan was 
at her house. (") It was midnight 
when General Gillem started. He 
made a rapid march, and at day- 
light dashed upon Morgan's un- 
suspecting men, who, taken by 
surprise, fled in confusion. Mor- 
gan was killed in Mrs. AVilliams's 
garden while attempting to es- 
cape. With the death of this 
brave, energetic commander the 
Confederate cavalry wliich had 
given Sherman and Grant so 
much trouble in Kentucky and 
East Tennessee was scattered to the winds, and never reorganized. 

"While General Sherman was pushing towards Atlanta, General Forrest, 
with a large cavalry force, was endeavoring to destroy the railroads in his 
rear. General Sturgis, with a body of cavalry, went out from Memphis to 
meet him, but was defeated. Gen. A. J. Smith, with one division of the 
Sixteenth Corps and one of the Seventeenth, which had been loaned to 
General Banks for the expedition up Ked River, returned to Memphis 
and moved to Tupelo. Forrest, emboldened by his victory over Sturgis, 
determined to attack Smith, but was defeated, with heavy loss. The Con- 




GEN. A. J. SMITH. 



430 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

federate commander was much chagrined, pkinned a bold movement — to 
dash into Memphis, capture tlie town, destroy the supplies, and by thus 
depriving Smith of the means of subsistence, compel him to evacuate 
Mississippi. (') 

He selected fifteen hundred of his best men — not a force large enough 
to fight much of a battle ; that was not his intention ; he would avoid a 
battle, rather. Many of his troops were young men from Memphis, who 
were familiar with the streets of the city. It was to be a swift move- 
ment, and a surprise to the Union troops guarding the city. 

Rain was falling when General Forrest started, but not minding the 

storm, he marched through the night. In the morning he found that his 

artillery horses were so broken down that he was compelled 

°' ' 'to leave two of his four cannon. He came to a small stream 
only sixty feet wide, but the water was overflowing its banks and he could 
not ford it. He was fertile in expedients, and set the men to making a 
strong cable of grape-vi<ies, which was stretched across the stream. Some 
buildings were torn down, logs were floated to the spot, and a bridge 
constructed and held in place by the grape-vines. (') 

At nightfall he was within twenty-five miles of Memphis, meeting the 

scouts who had been in the city, and who informed him in regard to the 

location of the five thousand troops guarding the j^lace, near- 

°' " ' ■ ly all of whom were colored. The headquarters of General 
Washburne, in command of the Department, were on Union Street ; those 
of General Hurlbut were at the Gayoso Hotel. 

It was six o'clock Sunday morning when Forrest halted his command 

for a few moments' rest at Cone Creek, four miles distant from Memphis. 

He called his officers around him and gave them specific in- 

Ang. 21, 1864. . ^ ] ..i j £ r^ ^ 

structions. One company, under the command of Uapt. 
W. H. Forrest, was to surprise the pickets and then ride straight to the 
Gayoso Hotel and seize the Union officers before they could leave their 
beds. Three regiments were to attack a snudl body of white troops en- 
camped on the outskirts of the city. Another detachment was to ride to 
the Mississippi Eiver and seize the steamboats. Still another detachment 
was to capture General Washburne. If the Union oflicers could be se- 
cured it would create such confusion that the Confederates might possibly 
have things their own way. To make sure that each officer understood 
just what he was to do, the troops were halted and Captain Anderson 
repeated the order. "They understand what they are to do," he said, 
and the column moved on. 

"Who comes there?" It was the hail of the Union picket. 



CONFEDERATE RAIDS. 



431 



" A detachnieiit of the Twelfth Missouri Cavalry with Rebel prison- 
ers," was the answer. 

"Advance one!"(°) 

Captain Forrest rode forward, and the next moment the unsuspecting 
picket was lying senseless upon the ground, felled by a blow^ upon his 
head with the butt-end of the ofiicer's revolver. A moment later the 
Confederates were seizing the picket -guard. One only had time to fire 
his musket. The report came sharp and clear upon the morning air, 
bringing the second guard, nearer the city, to their feet. The Confeder- 
ates dashed upon them, but were received with a volley. Instead of sur- 
prising the Union pickets, Forrest found them alert and the alarm rolling 




FORREST S CAVALRY IN MEMPHIS. 



from camp to camp. He must act with decision. The bugles sounded 
the charge, and his men, forgetting the injunction to be silent, yelled as 
loud as they could, as they swept like a whirlwind into the city. Blinds 
were flung back, sashes raised, by men and women who leaped from their 
beds, and, though in undress, waved their handkerchiefs and night-dresses 
to their friends in the Confederate ranks. C") The detachment detailed 
to seize the Union officers in the hotel reached the building, and several 
of the men, stooping in their saddles, rode into the halls. Others leaped 
from their horses and burst open the chamber doors ; but General Hurl- 
but was not there. The detachment which was to capture General Wash- 
burne dashed upon his headquarters ; but the one signal-gun, the volley 



432 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

following it, and the wild yell of the Confederates had awakened the en- 
tire city, and General Washbnrne had hastened to rally the troops, a por- 
tion of which ran into the State Female College and fired from the win- 
dows. Forrest saw that the Union troops Avould soon be cutting off his 
way of escape. His troops, welcomed by friends, had become in a meas- 
ure disorganized. lie had captured six hundred prisoners, but had lost a 
large number of his own men. He could stay no longer, and made a 
hasty retreat. The movement had resulted in failure. He could not in 
any event have held the city any length of time, for a superior force soon 
would have closed around him. Such a dash could have no appreciable 
effect, other than to break down horses and men by the long and hard 
riding. 

From the beginning of the war, a large majority of the people living 
in the Shenandoah Yalley gave their allegiance to the Confederate Gov- 
ernment. With but few exceptions, the men old enough to bear arms 
were either to be found in the army or else were secretly aiding and 
assisting the Confederate commander. Over the whole of Northern Yir- 
ginia ranged partisan commanders, with bands of men who one day might 
be seen at work on their farms, following the plough or gathering their 
harvests, but who, twenty-four hours later, at the call of their chief, would 
be riding miles away to fall upon a Avagon-train loaded with supplies for 
the Union army, capturing and shooting stragglers from the ranks. 

They were familiar with every foot of ground, every path-way leading 
into the mountain dells and secluded nooks. They could ride rapidly, at 
night as well as by day, over oft-frequented roads. Their work accom- 
plished, they disappeared as suddenly as they came. Their operations 
were approved by the people, who were ever ready to give information 
of the movements of the Union wagon-trains, or of small bodies of troops 
that might be safely attacked. 

"We have seen General Hunter making a movement to Lynchburg, and 
from there retreating down the valley of the Kanawha. When at Lex- 
ington he burned mills and furnaces which had furnished supplies to the 
Confederates, besides large amounts of grain. Ex-Governor Letcher had 
issued a call to the people to become guerillas and do all the damage pos- 
sible to the Union troops. 

General Hunter regarded this act of ex-Governor Letcher as inviting 
the people to murder straggling Union soldiers. Governor Letcher was 
not holding any official position, but had advised the people to commit 
acts of violence against soldiers regularly enlisted in the service of the 
United States, whereupon General Hunter ordered the soldiers to burn 



CONFEDERATE RAIDS. 433 

his house. They were fired upon from the windows of the Military- 
Institute at Lexington, for wliich he directed that it also should be 
burned. (") The house of Mr. Anderson, near Buchanan, was burned 
by General Hunter, together with several others belonging to prominent 
citizens, one of whom (Mr. Boteler) was General Hunter's own cousin. 
The Union commander informed the people of the valley that he should 
hold them responsible for acts committed by guerillas, whom they coun- 
tenanced. 

We have seen General Early, after his failure to enter Washington, 
retreating across the Potomac River and making his way into the Shenan- 
doah Valley, with large herds of cattle and horses which he 

July 24, 1864. , , , ;: , ,. • Tir i i rx 

had taken from the lai-mers in Maryland, lie was at btras- 
burg, in a position to return to Kichmond or to make a movement in 
some other direction. 

The Union troops confronting him were those commanded by General 
Crook, which we have seen retreating from Lynchburg down the Great 
Kanawha to the Ohio, and ascending that river to AVheeling, and then 
being transported east over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Early had 
much the larger force, and seeing his opportunity, advanced rapidly from 
Strasburg. Crook had between three and four thousand men belonmns 
to a large number of regiments, men who had been picked up from the 
hospitals and camps at Washington. They were a heterogeneous collec- 
tion of undisciplined soldiers. When the Confederates attacked them they 
became panic-stricken, and ran as fast as they could from Kernstown 
through Winchester to Martinsburg. "They behaved in a most disgrace- 
ful manner, their officers in many instances leading them off and starting 
all kinds of lying reports tending to demoralize the whole command; and 
it was only owing to the steadiness and good conduct of the infantry 
which came with us from the Kanawha that the army was saved from 
utter annihilation," wrote General Hunter. ('') General Crook brought 
off all his artillery and trains. One artillery officer, becoming frightened, 
abandoned four cannon, but the infantry took hold of the guns and drew 
them till other horses were obtained. The Union loss in killed, wound- 
ed, and prisoners M'as not far from twelve hundred, while the Confederate 
loss was very light. 

General Crook retreated to Sharpsburg, in Maryland, and encamped 
on the battle-field of Antietam. The cavalry under General Averill were 
stationed at Hagerstown. General Early advanced to Martinsburg, and 
once more destroyed the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, wdiich had been 
torn up at that point many times during the war. 
28 



434 EEDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 

General Earlj'^, Laving obtained so many horses and cattle and a large 
amount of supplies froiu Maryland, determined to add to his plunder by 
sending his cavalry into Pennsylvania, lie had been with General Lee 
in the Gettysburg campaign, and was thoroughly acquainted with the 
country. 

General McCausland, acting under General Early's directions, came to 

the Potomac at Clear Spring, above Williamsport, with two brigades and 

four cannon, accompanied by two divisions of infantry. To 

July 20, 1864. , ^-. i x , i , ^ , -r i 

cover the movement, General imboden and General Jack- 
son advanced to Harper's Ferry, fording the Potomac to the Maryland 
side. General Vaughn crossed at Williamsport and advanced to ITagers- 
town. Quickly the news flew down the beautiful Cumberland Valley. 
From every telegraph station messages were flashed to Governor Curtin, 
at Harrisburg, and from there to Washington, calling for troops. The 
soldiers of Pennsylvania were in the armies, and there were few troops 
at hand to resist the advance of Early's army, except those wdiich had 
fallen back from Kernstown. General Couch was at Ciiambersburg with 
about one hundred and fifty men. The farmers, with their horses and 
cattle, came riding through the town. General Couch sent the military 
stores to Plarrisburg. 

General Averill's pickets rode into Ilagerstown with the information 
that a body of Confederates — those under Vaughn — were crossing the 
Potomac at AVilliamsport, that another large body of cavalry and infantry 
farther up the river was pushing towards Chambersburg. General Averill 
loaded his supplies into tiie cars and started for Greencastle, which is 
twelve miles south of Chambersburg. Soon after the Union cavalry had 
left Hagerstown the Confederates dashed in, captured the train of cars, 
and burned it. 

The troops under McCausland, twenty-nine hundred in number, were 
moving rapidly towards Chambersburg. At ten o'clock in the evening, 
when within two miles, they saw the flash of a cannon, and a shell came 
whirling through the air. Not knowing how large a force was confront- 
ing him, McCausland halted and waited for the morning. The cannon 
had been flred by Lieutenant McLean, who with sixty men had been de- 
tailed by General Couch to make a show of resistance, that the people 
might gain time in removing their goods. General Couch was in com- 
mand of the Military Department of Pennsjdvania, but he had less than 
three hundred available men to oppose McCausland. 

The cocks w^ere crowing in the farm -yards at three o'clock in the 
morning wlien McCausland planted his cannon, and without warning to 



CONFEDERATE RAIDS. 435 

the unoffending inhabitants, fired three shells into the town, followed by 
the advance of nine hundred of his men. He sent one of his soldiers to 
the Court-house to ring the bell, calling the citizens togeth- 
' er, but the citizens did not come; whereupon McCausland 

sent Major Gilmore to arrest the leading men and bring them to the 
Court-house, where Captain Fitzhugh, McCausland's chief of staff, read a 
letter written by General Early, demanding one hundred thousand dollars 
in gold, or five hundred thousand in United States currency. If they 
did not pay it at once, General McCausland was directed " to lay the town 
in ashes." (") General Early stated that he did this because the houses of 
three of the prominent citizens of Jefferson County, in Virginia, had been 
burned by General Hunter, 

" We have no gold, and probably there is not fifty thousand dollars in 
money in the town," said the citizens. 

" I must have the money or I shall carry out my order," said McCaus- 
land, who went into the hotel and ordered the landlord to prepare a break- 
fast. While he was eating, the soldiers were breaking open the stores and 
helping themselves to whatever they liked, drinking themselves drunk 
with liquor, snatching watches from the pockets of the citizens, compel- 
ling them to give up their hats, boots, and shoes. 

McCausland finished his breakfast, aiid as the five hundred thousand 
dollars had not been paid, ordered Major Gilmore to set the town on fire. 
Soldiers were detailed to execute the order, who broke open the houses, 
piled the furniture in heaps — beds, tables, chairs—and set them on fire, 
paying no heed to the pathetic prayers of old men and women, the en- 
treaties of mothers with infants in their arms, or the crying of children. 
One of the soldiers, more tender-hearted than others, said, " I must obey 
orders," but others, whose brains were on fire with the liquor they had 
drunk, with fiendish laughter applied the torch to women's clothes hang- 
ing in the closets. (") 

It was mid-forenoon when the great volume of flame and smoke rose 
to heaven — bursting out simultaneously from every part of the town. No 
picture can adequately portray the scene. Old men and women tottering 
through the streets, mothers pressing their babes to their breasts, with 
frightened children rending the air with their cries, clinging to them amid 
the suffocating smoke, going they knew not where ; women fleeing with 
their clothes in their arms, rudely assaulted, the clothes taken from them 
and thrown into the flames ; valued articles snatched from their hands 
by ruthless ruffians. In some instances men were halted, compelled to sit 
down and pull off their boots and hand them over to the Confederates. 



43G 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



Tlie sick and infirm liad to be carried to places of safety by the citizens, 
who could do noti)ing to save their homes. Some of the Confederate 
soldiers, moved by the terrible scene, kindly assisted ; others looked on 
stolidly, or else gloried in the opportunity to help themselves to whatever 
they might choose to take. In a few cases, houses situated in the out- 
skirts were spared by the owners paying a ransom. It was half-past ten 




■si- 







RUINS OF CHAMBEKSBURG. 



when a cavalryman came to tell McCausland that the Union cavalry was 
approaching, Jtnd it w^as time for him to be on the move. He called in 
the parties detailed to burn the town and rode rapidly away towards the 
west, crossing jSTorth Mountain and making all haste towards the Potomac, 
with Averill in pursuit. 

General Averill has been much criticised for not reaching Chambers- 
burg in season to have prevented its destruction. At Greencastle he 
was notified by telegrams from General Couch of the rapid advance of 
the Confederates towards Chambersburg. He was asleep beside a fence, 
near Greencastle, at' four o'clock in the morning, when he was wakened 
by the telegraph operator. At the moment, the booming of cannon was 
heard in the direction of Chambersburg. (") General Averill replied that 
he would be at Chambersburg in the morning. He did not start at once, 
or issue au}^ orders for an immediate movement. When at last he took 
up the line of march, it was not directly towards Chambersburg, bnt east- 
ward to Greenwood, whence he turned tow^ards the west. The reason for 
this detour, eight miles out of the way, possibly may have been the fear 



CONFEDERATE RAIDS. 437 

tliat General Yanghn, with another body of Confederate cavalry, might 
also be advancing towards Chambersburg, and that were he to take the 
direct road, he might be canght between Vaughn and McCansland, and 
attacked in front and rear at the same moment. A bolder commander 
would liave readily and joyfully improved the opportunity that presented 
itself to Avei'ill ; he was between McCausland and the Potomac ; by cut- 
ting off his retreat, falling upon him, and driving him still farther into 
Pennsylvania, he would soon be surrounded by the rapidly gathering de- 
tachments under General Couch. It would seem that General Averill had 
little apprehension of the great opportunity that liad come to him to strike 
an effective blow upon McCausland. 

Sad and mournful the scene when he rode towards Chambersburg be- 
neath the cloud ascending from the five hundred and thirty-seven build- 
ings burned by the order of General Early. In the streets and fields stood 
two thousand homeless men and women, many of them reduced by the 
morning's work from competence and comfort to penury and want. 

" For this act I alone am responsible, as the officers engaged in it were 
simply executing my orders, and had no discretion left them," is the frank, 
exj)licit avowal of General Early. ('"') He gave the order in retaliation for 
the houses burned and property destroyed in the Shenandoah Valley by the 
order of General Hunter. 

The Union commanders in the Shenandoah Valley during 1862 and 
1863 had refrained from destroying buildings. Nearly all the people in 
the valley were hostile to the Union. Their sympathies and acts were in 
favor of the Confederates. They gave aid and assistance to the guerillas, 
who were seemingly peaceful citizens during the day, but who at night 
would be in the saddle, pouncing upon Union wagon - trains, capturing 
stragglers from the ranks, or shooting their prisoners. When General 
Hunter succeeded to the command of the valley he determined to put an 
end to this mode of warfare, and issued a notice that guerillas, who were 
unorganized soldiers, belonging to no regiment in the Confederate service, 
would be summarily punished when arrested for depredation and murder. 
He also gave notice, as we have seen, that all who aided and assisted such 
irregular soldiers would be punished. He said: "The firing by guerillas 
into defenceless wagon-trains, and the assassination of soldiers, are prac- 
tices not recognized by the laws of war of any civilized nation, nor are 
the persons engaged therein entitled to any other treatment than that 
done by the universal code of justice to pirates, murderers, and other out- 
laws." (") ... He said: "Without the countenance given them by the 
Confederate residents of the valley they could not support themselves a 



438 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

week." He notified the people that for every train fired upon, or Union 
soldier wounded or assassinated by guerillas, the houses and other property of 
every secession sympathizer within a circuit of five miles should be burned. 
By his order he made the people responsible for the acts of the guerillas. 

The increasing acts of barbarity on the part of the Confederates de- 
manded redress. On May 22d, six Union soldiers were found strapped to 
a fence near Charlestown, having their throats cut from ear to ear. ('*) It 
was to put a stop to such fiendish acts that General Hunter issued his 
order, which, however, never was literally executed, but many buildings 
were burned under it, which brought about the retaliatory act of General 
Early. No Confederate soldier had ever been robbed or injured by a 
citizen of Chambersburg. No Confederate wagon -train had been fired 
upon by the people of that town ; while the people in the Shenandoah 
Valley, on the other hand, harbored, aided, and secreted the men who 
improved every opportunity that offered to capture or murder Union 
soldiers. The verdict of history, when all passion and prejudice have 
passed away, quite likely will place the ultimate responsibility for the 
destruction of Chambersburg upon those who aided and abetted the gue- 
rillas of the Shenandoah. 

The burning of Chambersburg could have no appreciable effect upon 
the final outcome of the war. It was a deliberate act of vandalism on the 
part of General Early, who, though a quarter of a century has rolled away, 
still frankly accepts the responsibility, and justifies the act.('") 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XVII. 

( 1 ) Basil W. Duke, " History of Morgan's Cavalry, "p. 526. 

( '^ ) Idem, p. 524. 

( 3) Idem, p. 580. 

( *) Idem, p. 532. 

( 5) Idem, p. 529. 

( 6) Idem, p. 537. 

( '') "Campaigns of Lieutenant-general Forrest," p. 534. 

( *) Idem, p. 535. 

( 9) Idem, p. 539. 

('0) Idem, p. 542. 

(") George E. Pond, "The Shenandoah Valley in 1864," p. 30. 

('•^) Hunter to Halleck, Unpubli-shed War Records. 

(•3) Jacob Hake, "The Great Invasion," Appendix, p. 582. 

('•*) Idem, p. 582. 

(•5) T. R. Bard, quoted in "The Great Invasion," Appendix, p. 585. 

('6) Gen. Jubal A. Early, "Memoirs of the Last Year of the War," p. 70. 

(") Maj-gen. David Hunter's Order of ]May24, 1864. 

(•8) Jacoi) Hake, "The Great Invasion," p. 597. 

('*) Jubal A. Early, Address at Winchester, May, 1889. 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, lti64. 439 



CHAPTER XVIir. 

POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 1864. 

JEFFERSON DAVIS, in midwinter, 1864, was far-sighted enough to 
see that something must be done to counteract, if possible, the effect 
of the victories won by the Union troops at Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and 
Chattanooga. He saw that the armies of the Union were being largely 
reinforced ; that the Government was putting forth all its energy to carry 
on the war. He 'knew that there was a large portion of the Democratic 
party in the Northern States opposing the war, and took measures to fos- 
ter the discontent, bring about an uprising, if possible ; also to prevent the 
re-election of Abraham Lincoln ; to release the large number of Confeder- 
ate prisoners on Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, near Sandusky ; at Camp 
Douglas, near Chicago ; Camp Chase, at Columbus ; and at Rock Island, 
111, If tliese could be released, and an uprising brought about at the same 
moment, it was hoped that the theatre of war might be transferred from 
Northern Georgia to Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio ; and that out of the tur- 
moil would come the breaking of the blockade either by France or England, 
or by both nations acting in concert ; or that the iron-clad vessels build- 
ing in England and France, and paid for with Confederate cotton, would 
suddenly make their appearance off Charleston and Wilmington, and scat- 
ter the blockading fleets, or possibly enter the harbor of New York, and 
lay that metropolis under contribution. Such the roseate hued picture of 
the possible outcome of a well- concerted plan of action. Even if this 
could not wholly be brought about, an influence might be exercised by 
judicious action which would result in the election of a successor to Abra- 
ham Lincoln wlio would enter into negotiations for peace. 

These the words of Jefferson Davis : " Political developments at the 
North favored the adoption of some action that might influence public 
sentiment in the hostile section. The aspect of the Peace party was quite 
encouraging, and it seemed that the real issue to be decided in the Presi- 
dential election of that year was the continuance or cessation of the war. 
A commission of three persons eminent in position and intelligence was 



440 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

accordingly appointed to visit Canada, with a view to negotiate with such 
persons in the North as might be rehed on to aid in the attainment of 
peace." (') 

Had we been in Wihnington, N. C, we should have seen a steamer 

lying low in the water, painted white, with raking funnel and masts, 

loaded with cotton, its cabins crowded with passengers, and 

March 1, 1864. , ■»«- t t-» tt tit i i i i 

among them Mr, James i . lloicomb. it was ten o clocic, and 
the night dark, when the steamer made her way down the harbor, and out 
over the bar, avoiding the Union war-ships, shaping her course to N^assau, 
where Mr. lloicomb took passage on another steamer to Halifax. 

The steamer 27t.istlc', built in England to run the blockade, left Wil- 
mington with Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay, and AY. W. Cleary on 
board, the three commissioners selected by Jefferson Davis 

May 6 1864. nc ■ • /--i ^ • .• • i tit tt i 

to manage anairs in Canada, in connection witli Mr, lloi- 
comb, who was especially cliarged to defend some Confederate sailors who 
had been arrested in Hahfax. Mr. Thompson was from»Mississippi. He 
had been a member of Congress from 1839 to 1851, He owned a large 
number of slaves, and had used all his influence for the extension of 
slavery. The State of Mississippi had obtained a large amount of money 
by issuing bonds, but instead of meeting its obligations, repudiated them 
in 1857. Jefferson Davis and Jacob Tliompson both advocated the dis- 
honorable transaction. President Buclianan appointed Mr. Thompson Sec- 
retary of the Interior, Under his administration, in connection with John 
B, Floyd, Secretary of War, nearly one million dollars of Indian Trust 
Funds were stolen from the Treasury, Mr, Thompson knew all the cir- 
cumstances of the transaction, but used his influence to protect the guilty 
parties, AVliile holding the office of Secretary of the Interior, and draw- 
ing his salary, he was also acting, in January, 18G1, as Commissioner from 
the Confederate States to North Carolina, to induce the Legislature of 
that State to secede from the Union, He was one of the few original con- 
spirators who plotted the overthrow of the Government and the estab- 
lishment of a slave power upon its ruins (" Drum-beat of the Nation," 
p, 29). The conunissioners reached Halifax, and made their way overland 
to Montreal, 

CoL Thomas II. Hines, of the Nintli Kentucky Confederate Cavalry, 
who had been captured with Morgan in Ohio, in 1863, but Avho had es- 
caped from prison, was commissioned by Mr, Seddon, Confederate Secre- 
tary of War, to make his way to Canada, to collect the Confederate sol- 
diers there. He was to put himself in communication with the Sons 
of Liberty, and to do all in his power to induce them to organize and pre- 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 1864. 441 

pare themselves to aid the Confederates, and to employ the soldiers he 
might collect in " hostile operations." Colonel Ilines was directed to ob- 
serve " neutral obligations." 

The Confederate Government was using the hospitality of England to 
construct a navy ; with the connivance and knowledge of Louis Napoleon, 
Emperor of France, the Confederate Secretary of the JSTavy was having a 
fleet of iron-clads under construction in the ports of that country. The or- 
der of Mr. Seddon to Colonel Ilines to collect Confederate soldiers wlio had 
made their way to Canada, arm them, and engage in hostile operations 
against the United States, was in itself a violation of neuti'al obligations. 
Were the Confederates to enlist as soldiers in Canada, witliout arming them, 
it would be a violation of international law, yet Captain Ilines was com- 
missioned not only to collect the Confederate soldiers, but to make a hos- 
tile attack from Canada upon the United States. The authority given 
liy Mr. Seddon was supplemented by Jefferson Davis. " I hereby direct 
you," wa-ote the President of the Confedei-acy, " to proceed to Canada, 
there to carry out the instructions you have received from me vei'bally in 
such manner as sliall seem most likely to conduce to the further interests 
of the Confederate States." ('*) 

Mr. Thompson was chief commissioner, and Captain Hines was to con- 
fer with him. The Confederate Government had commissioned all the 
parties, and would therefore be responsible for whatever they might do. 

The secret society which was organized in the Western States early in 
the war as the " Mutual Protection Society," which was changed to the 
" Knights of the Golden Circle," again changed its name, and had become 
tlie "Sons of Liberty." Its members were bitterly opposed to the war. 
The calls of President Lincoln for more troops, and the ordering of the 
draft, made them more than ever determined and active in their disloyalty. 
They were in communication with the Confederates. "The object of the 
order was to aid and assist the Confederate Government, and restore the 
Union as it was before the war," as stated by one of its officers. (') 

The members were most numerous in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, 
but the organization extended eastward, and had many members in New 
York. A General Council of delegates held a secret session 
*^ ■ ' 'in New York on the anniversary of Washington's Birthday, 
who chose Mr. Clement L. Yallandigham Grand Commander. (■*) In 
"Marching to Yictory" (p. 162) we have seen that Mr. Yallandigham, 
member of Congress from Ohio, was arrested by General Burnside for 
treason, that he had been sent South by President Lincoln, but had 
made his way from Eichmond to Bermuda, and thence to Canada. The 



442 EEDEExMING THE EEPUBLIC. 

Democratic party of Ohio had nominated him for Governor, but the 
people of that State, in the fall of 1863, had defeated him by more than 
one hundred thousand majority, given for John Brough, a Democrat, 
who supported the war. Vallandigham was at Windsor, opposite Detroit, 
and in constant communication with the Sons of Liberty, also with Mr. 
Thompson, Mr. Clay, and Captain Hines, who were using every possible 
eiiort to inaugurate civil war in the Western States, and who indulged the 
belief that they could bring about a secession of those States, and the 
establishment of a North-western Confederacy. One of the leading Dem- 
ocratic newspapers of the West said : " The continuance of the war on the 
present terms is as certain to result in the independence of the seceded 
States as night and day are to follow each other. . . . The Korth-west does 
not propose to pay tribute, and, in case of the disrupture of the republic, 
will make her own terras. . . . She knows her capacity to make terms with 
whatever section she may treat with after its dissolution." (') 

In an interview between Mr. Thompson and Mr. Vallandigham, the 
Grand Commander of the Sons of Liberty said that the members of the 
order were only partially armed ; that while the organization Avas not 
compact, it was controlled by efficient and determined men, and if provo- 
cation and opportunity combined, its members would defend their prin- 
ciples at any cost. He intended to return to Ohio, where he expected to 
be arrested, which would lead to a general uprising. (') 

Mr, Thompson supplied money, which was to be used in arming tlie 
Sons of Liberty. He wrote a letter to Richmond, informing the Confed- 
erate Government of what he w^as doing, and what he expected would be 
accomplished : 

"Though intending this for a Western Confederacy, and demanding 
peace, if peace be not granted then it shall be war. There are some choice 
spirits enlisted in this enterprise, and all that is needed for success is un- 
flinching nerve. It is agreed that Capt. T. Henry Hines shall command 
at Chicago and Capt. John B. Castleman at Eock Island. If a movement 
could be made by our troops into Kentucky and Missouri it would greatly 
facilitate matters in the West. ... If Lee can hold his own in front of Rich- 
mond, and Johnston defeat Sherman in Georgia prior to the election, it 
seems probable that Lincoln would be defeated. It is not improbable that 
McClellan will be nominated by the War Democrats. His recent w^ar 
speeches have broken him down with the Peace party, but in my opinion 
no Peace candidate can be elected unless disaster attend the Federal armies 
in Virginia and Georgia. In short, nothing but violence can terminate the 
war."(') 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 1864. 443 

If the Sons of Liberty or the Confederates in Canada thought that 
the military authorities of the United States did not know what was going 
on, tliey were mistaken. General Rosecrans was in command at St. Louis, 
and his provost marshal, Colonel Sanderson, knew that there were myste- 
rious meetings at night in a room over a store. He knew who attended 
them, and what was said and done witliiu the chamber by the Sons of 
Liberty, several of whom he caused to be arrested. 

Colonel Carrington, in Indianapolis, knew all about secret meetings 
held by the Sons of Liberty in southern Indiana. In Missouri, Illinois, 
and Indiana, detectives employed by the Government were initiated into 
the order, attended tlie meetings, and learned the plan of the conspirators. 
The return of Mr. Vallandigham to Ohio, and his second arrest by the 
Government, was to be the signal for the general uprising. It was learned 
that John Morgan was to invade Kentucky. (*) It was expected that there 
would be simultaneous movements of the Confederate armies northward 
to intensify the excitement. 

On March 4, 1865, the term of years for which Abraham Lincoln 
was elected President would expire. Although the day was a twelve- 
month distant, there were those who w^ere forecasting tlie event, and plan- 
ning for the election of his successor. There were men in the Republican 
party who earnestly advocated his election in 1860, but who now were op- 
posed to his re-election ; some of them because he was so slow, cautious, 
and conservative, and was not doing just what they thought he ought to 
do. They wanted generals to be placed in command of the armies who 
would act with more vigor than General Meade had exhibited after the 
battle of Gettysburg. They wanted the rebellion crushed out at once, and 
the lands of those who were in arms against the United States confiscated 
to the Government. On the other hand, there were those who opposed 
his re-election because he had gone so fast and so far. They said that he 
had no constitutional authority to issue the Proclamation of Emancipation. 
They denounced the employment of negroes as soldiers. Men who had 
solicited appointments to important positions, but who had not received 
them, manifested their resentment by opposing his election for a second 
term of years. LTnder another President they might obtain what they 
desired. 

Among those who earnestly opposed Mr. Lincoln's re-election was 
Horace Greeley, editor of the jW'io York Tribune, a paper which for a 
long period before the war had wielded a commanding influence, ever on 
the side of freedom. He was not always well balanced, and his political 
course was erratic. Before the outbreak of the war, when the conspirators 



444 KEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

were plotting for tlie overtlirow of the Government, he said, "Wayward 
sisters, go in- peace." If the niajoritv of tlie people of a State Avished to 
secede, he would allow them to do so. lie had criticised many of the acts 
of President Lincoln, and was strenuously opposing his renomination. 

One of the members of President Lincoln's Cabinet, Mr. Chase, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, ardently desired to be President. He had always 
been opposed to slavery, and while a member of the Senate had battled 
manfully against the aggression of the slave-holders. He allowed his 
friends to present his name as a candidate, and a circular was issued by 
them which represented that it was impossible for the Republican party 
to re-elect Mr. Lincoln ; that Mr. Chase possessed all the qualifications 
needed at such a crisis in the affairs of the nation. Mr. Chase was from 
Ohio, but the Legislature of that State passed resolutions indorsing Mr. 
Lincoln and advocating his re-election ; whereupon Mr. Chase, seeing that, 
there was no prospect of his being nominated, withdrew his name as a 
candidate. 

The men who thought Mr. Lincoln was going too slow called a conven- 
tion, which met at Cleveland, Ohio. About one hundred and iifty persons 
assembled, but they had not been elected by any constituent 
bodies as delegates; they only represented themselves. Tliey 
issued a platform demanding that the rebellion be suppressed without a 
compromise, that the right of habeas corpus, which President Lincoln had 
suspended, should be respected, and that the lands of the slave-holders and 
all their property should be confiscated. They nominated General Fre- 
mont for President, and Gen. John C. Cochrane, of jSTew York, for Yice- 
president. General Fremont wrote a letter three days later accepting the 
nomination, in which President Lincoln was charged with incapacity and 
want of fidelity to the Constitution. He declared that if the Republican 
convention, which was to meet at Baltimore the first week in June, were 
to nominate Mr. Lincoln, he ought not to be elected. Others of the Re- 
publican party thought that it would be better to select General Grant as 
candidate ; but General Grant would not consent to such an arrangement. 

The Republican convention met in Baltimore. The temporary chair- 
man w^as a white-haired man from Kentucky, Robert J. Breckinridge, 
who had received from college and university the honorable 
degrees of Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Laws for his 
learning and eloquence. He was uncle to John C. Breckinridge, who had 
been voted for by the slave-holders in 1S60, and who was a lieutenant- 
general in the Confederate army. Though many of his relatives and 
friends had given their sympathies to the Confederacy, he ardently loved 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 18G4. 445 

the Union. " This nation shall not be destroyed," he said. " The only 
endnring and imperishable cement of all free institutions has been the 
blood of traitors. . . . We must use all power to exterminate the institu- 
tion of slavery, which lias raised the sword ag^ainst the Union." 

President Lincoln was almost unanimously renominated, and the con- 
vention declared that there should be no compromise with rebels in arms, 
and that the war should be prosecuted with the utmost possible vigor. 
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, was nominated for Vice-president. 

From the beginning of the conflict, the Peace Democrats, as they 
called themselves, opposed the prosecution of the war. They denounced 
President Lincoln as a usurper and tyrant. The victories won by the sol- 
diers of the Union gave them no pleasure, and they rejoiced whenever 
there was a defeat to the armies bearing the Stars and Stripes. Many 
Democrats who supported the President at the breaking out of the rebel- 
lion now opposed him, because he had given liberty to the slaves. In 
1860 the Democratic party was divided, part voting for Breckinridge and 
part for Mr. Douglas ; but it was to act now as a united party. 

Those who opposed the war said that the South could not be con- 
quered ; that so brave a people as they had sliown themselves to be never 
could be compelled to lay down their arms ; that the thousands of men 
who had given up their lives on the battle-fields, who were dying in the 
hospitals, had suffered in vain ; it was a crime against humanity to prolong 
a struggle which had cost so much blood and treasure, and brought ruin 
and desolation to so large a section of the country. " We must have peace 
at any price," they said. 

The National Democratic Convention was to meet in Chicago July 4th. 
The committee which had matters in charge selected the anniversary 
of national independence, hoping that the choice of such a day would 
awaken enthusiasm, but their arrangements were unexpectedly thrown 
into confusion. 

The Peace Democrats of south-western Ohio were in session at Day- 
ton, when the door opened and Mr. Yallandigham, Grand Commander of 
the Sons of Liberty, entei-ed. It was an unlooked-for event. 

June 16, 18G4. tt i t • i • i ^ /-. i tt j^ i 

He had come m the night from Canada. He was greeted 
with a yell of delight. He made a speech to the convention, and went 
on to his own home in Hamilton, where he made another speech. Quite 
likely Mr. Vallandigham was somewhat disappointed because a regiment 
of soldiers did not come with an order to arrest him a second time. Just 
what motive induced him to suddenly leave Canada and appear unher- 
alded in Ohio is not known, but the Sons of Liberty were not quite ready 



446 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

for ail uprising. The Confederate agents had not perfected their plans 
for the release of the Confederate prisoners. The Sons of Liberty were 
preparing clock-work machinery, to be placed on steamboats, which at a 
given time would strike a match and set the boat on fire. (') Two boats 
had already been destroyed. They intended to destroy steamboats and 
railroads so that there could be no rapid concentration of Union troops. 
At a secret meeting in Chicago, it was agreed that the Confederate 
prisoners should be released, the arms in the arsenals at Chicago and 
Springfield, 111, should be seized at the same moment, and that it should 
be done some time before August 16th ; that the Confederate prisoners 
and the Sons of Liberty were to rendezvous at Louisville, l^evv Albany, 
and Jefferson ville, on the Ohio, where they were to be joined by a Con- 
federate force which would march to their assistance. ( '° ) Yallandigham 
was to select the day on which tlie uprising was to take place. But 
there was consternation among the Sons of Liberty when, a day or two 
later, Judge Buillet, Dr. Kaulfus, and several other prominent Sons of 
Liberty were arrested and sent to Fort Lafayette, thus upsetting all their 
plans. 

The arrival of Mr. Vallandigham and his election as delegate to the 
Chicago Convention was not anticipated by the leaders of the Democratic 
party, who feared that he might be a ruling spirit in the convention. 
The committee which had matters in charge saw that something must be 
done, for while Vallandigham and the Peace Democrats were in a fairway 
to control the convention. Grant was crossing the James to Petersburg, 
and Sherman making his way towards Atlanta, and hopes of the success of 
the party at the election in November were fading away. The members 
of the committee hastened to New York, and after consultation adjourned 
the meeting of the convention to August 29th. The reason given for the 
adjournment was that it was thought best to wait for possible events. 
One of the Democratic newspapers frankly said that it was best to wait 
and take advantage of any blunder that might be made, whereupon the 
Republican papers said that it was the first time in history that a puliticnl 
party, pretending to be loyal to the Constitution and the Union, could 
only hope for success from disaster to the armies of the Union. 

Among the Confederates in Canada was Mr. George Sanders, of Ken- 
tucky, who sent a letter to Horace Greeley, editor of the New Yo7'Jc 
Tribune, informing him that the Confederate agents in Canada were anx- 
ious to bring about peace. The editor of the Tribune, thinking that he 
might possibly render a great service to the country, wrote thus to Presi- 
dent Lincoln: "I venture to remind you that our bleeding, bankrupt, al- 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 1864. 447 

most dying country, longs for peace, shudders at the prospect of fresh con- 
scriptions, of future wholesale devastations, and of rivers of human blood." 
Mr. Greeley asked that a safe-conduct be given to Mr. Clay, Mr. Ilolcomb, 
and Mr. Sandei-s to visit Washington to arrange a peace. Mr. Greeley 
did not know tliat he was being made a fool of by the Confederates ; that 
thev had no proposition ; that Jefferson Davis never had conferred any 
authority upon them to negotiate a peace. President Lincoln was farther- 
sighted than Mr. Greeley. This the writing which he sent to the Confed- 
erates, and which was given them by Mr. John Hay, one of his private 
secretai'ies : 

" To WHOM IT MAY CoNCERN : 

" Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integ- 
rity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which 
comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war 
against the United States, will be received and considered by the Execu- 
tive Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms 
on substantial and collateral points ; and the bearer or bearers thereof shall 

have safe-conduct both ways. 

"Abraham Lincoln." 

The Confederates did not want peace on any such terms, but an abso- 
lute independence. The commissioners did. not go to Washington. The 
people of the South were not ready to accept peace on the terms offered 
by Mr. Lincoln. A Georgia newspaper said : " We may lose much by pre- 
senting a hostile front to the movements of tlie Peace Democracy. Live 
with them under the same Government we never will, but if they will 
use the ballot-box against Mr. Lincoln while we use the cartridge - b,ox, 
each side will be a helper to the other, and both co-operate to accomplish 
the grandest work which this country and this continent has ever wit- 
nessed."(") 

Five thousand Confederate prisoners were confined at Camp Douglas, 
near Chicago. The camp contained sixty acres, surrounded by a board 
fence fourteen feet high. The guard in the month of May was composed 
of two reo-iments of veteran soldiers. Many of the Confederates had served 
under Morgan. Some of them were from Texas — wild, reckless, and ever 
ready for adventure. The officer in command of the garrison allowed the 
Confederate officers to have, in some degree, control of the men, allowing 
them to serve out their food and distribute clothing and keep the records 
of the regiments. A writer says that the prison, in fact, was in charge of 



448 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

the prisoners. C'') Some of the prisoners, under parole, were allowed to 
visit their friends in the city. A new commander. Col. J. B. Sweet, was 
placed in charge of the prisoners, who changed the order of things. The 
Confederates liad been allowed to write to their friends, and the letters 
went South by flag of truce at Petersliurg. Colonel Sweet noticed that 
a great many letters were written. As they were unsealed, he noticed 
that some of them contained but a few lines, and that tiiere would be 
large spaces on which nothing had been written. On a day in June he 
held one of the letters near a fire, when, lo and behold ! the blank pages 
became written lines, and the officer read something about the Fourth of 
July, that there might possibly be an unexpected celebration in the camp. 
He kept his own counsel ; but from day to day new prisoners were 
brought to the camp, who soon found out that it was expected a large 
number of people would come to the Democratic convention on July 4th 
from southern Illinois and Indiana, and that there was a literary society 
in Chicago which held secret meetings ; that the members were in sym- 
pathy with the Confederates. The Confederate prisoners who revealed all 
this to the new-comers did not know that they were in conversation M'ith 
Colonel Sweet's detectives; nor did the members of the literary society 
know that one of their new members was a detective in the service of 
the new commander of the camp. Many troops were passing througli 
Chicago, some stopped there, and for the time being came under the 
command of an ofiicer, who quietly reinforced the guard. The Fourth 
of July came, but as the Democratic convention had been adjourned, 
there were no arrivals of men from southern Indiana, Illinois, or Canada. 
The arrest of several leading members of the Sons of Liberty in Cin- 
cinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, together with postponement of the con- 
vention, had disarranged the plans under way for the liberation of the 
prisoners. 

During the month of August the Confederate agents in Canada and 
throughout the North-west were very busy. Mr. Thompson sent a large 
amount of money to Indiana and Illinois to trusty parties for the purchase 
of arms.(") 

A Confederate writer, who \vas one of the chief agents in the manage- 
ment of affairs, says : " Mr. Vallandigham's representatives were furnished 
means of transportation, and had ample time to make proper distribution, 
and explain to the inore faithful and courageous county commanders why 
the rank and file should come to Chicago and resist any further attempts 
on the liberty of the citizens." ('*) 

Mr. Thompson, at Toronto, issued commissions to Captain Castleraan 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 18G4. 449 

and Captain Ilines. They were to command the expeditions for tlie re- 
lease of the prisoners, and M^ere directed to take with them from Canada 
all sncli Confederate soldiers as were suited to aid in the 

Aug. 24,1864. -1 i. 1 • 

perilous undertaking. 

The leaders of the Sons of Liberty had visited Mr. Thompson in Can- 
ada, and all arrangements were made to liberate the prisoners while the 
Democratic convention was in session. The trains which rolled into Chi- 
cago on the 27tli and 28th of August over the Michigan Central Rail- 
road contained a large number of men whose faces were sunburned, who 
wore slouched hats, and who talked but little with the passengers. "When 
they reached Chicago some of them went to the Richmond House and 
registered their names from various places, and acted as if they were 
strangers to each other. They were Confederate officers from Canada. ('") 

A Confederate writer says: "Men commended to us by Mr. Vallandig- 
liam had been intrusted with the necessary funds for perfecting county or- 
ganizations ; arms had been purchased in the North by the aid of professed 
friends in New York ; alliances offensive and defensive had been made 
with peace organizations, and though we were not misled by the sanguine 
promises of our friends, we were confident that with any sort of co-opera- 
tion on their part success was possible. During the excitement that always 
attends a great political convention, increased as we supposed it would be 
by the spirit of opposition to the administration, we felt that we would be 
free to act unobserved, and that we could move with promptness and effect 
npon Camp Douglas. With five thousand prisoners there, and over seven 
thousand at Springfield, joined by the dissatisfied elements in Chicago and 
through Illinois, we believed that we would have a formidable force, which 
might be the nucleus of more important movements. . . . Arms were ready, 
and information had been conveyed to the prisoners of our intention. Chi- 
cago was thronged with people from all sections of the country, and among 
the vast crowd were many county officers of the secret organization on 
whom we relied for assistance." ('°) 

Had we been guests at the Richmond House we should have seen men 
entering one of the rooms, when the door was carefully guarded, and every 
one who came to be admitted was closely scrutinized. It 
' °" " ' " was a conference of the Confederate leaders with the lead- 
ers of the Sons of Liberty. It was shown that a large number of the Sons 
of Liberty had arrived, but that they had not been organized for action. 

The trains brought a multitude of men from southern Indiana and 
Illinois. " As day after day passed," wrote an editor of one of the Chi- 
cago newspapers, "the crowd increased till the whole city seemed alive 
29 



450 EEDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

with a motley crew of blear-eyed, wliiskey-blotclied vagabonds, the very 
excrescence ar.d sweepings of the slums and sinks of all the cities of the 
nation. I sat at ni}-- window and saw the filthy stream of degraded hu- 
manity swagger along to the wigwatn on the lake shore, and wondered 
how onr city could be saved from burning and plunder, and our wives and 
daughters from a far more dreadful fate."(") They talked loudly about 
the convention, cursed Abraham Lincobi, and praised Vallandigham. They 
swaggered through the streets, lounged at the corners, drank a great deal 
of whiskey, and yelled with delight at the mention of the name of Jeffer- 
son Davis. Some of them went ont towards Camp Douglas ; but when 
they saw how many soldiers were guarding it, and how the cannon were 
placed pointing down all the avenues, to sweep them, if need be, by their 
lire, they turned away with scowls and frowns npon their faces. 

The time came at length for holding the convention. Mr. Belmont, 

of Xew York, called the delegates to order. " Four years of misrule," 

he said, " by a sectional, fanatical, and corrupt party have 

Aiisz;. 29, 18G4. ^ . r^, 

brought onr country to tlie verge oi ruin. . . . Ihe inevita- 
ble result of the re-election of Mr. Lincoln must be tlie utter disintegra- 
tion of our whole political and social system, and bloodshed and anarchy, 
with the great problems of liberal pi-ogress and self-government jeopard- 
ized for generations to come." Mr, Hunt, who had once been Governor 
of New York, wanted an armistice that a convention of States might be 
called to amend the Constitution, to insure the perpetuation of slavery in 
the Southern States, lie desired "to insure to each State the enjoyment 
of all its rights and the constitutional control of its domestic concerns." 
Governor Hunt and those who agreed with him were blind to the mean- 
ing of the great events of the hour; they did not see that the whole world 
was moving; on to a loftier ideal of life. 

The draft which President Lincoln had ordered was violently opposed 
l)y Mr. Long, of Ohio, member of Congress, wlio wanted a committee ap- 
pointed to go to Washington and demand that the draft be postponed till 
the people could decide whether or not the war should go on. 

Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, was president of the con- 
vention. He said that the Republican party was responsible for the war. 
He had no Nvord of censure for Jefferson Davis or any of the Confeder- 
ates. He wanted the fighting suspended, and he arraigned President Lin- 
coln for not consenting to an armistice. "The Administration," he said, 
"will not let the shedding of blood cease, even for a little time, to see if 
Christian charity or the wisdom of statesmanship may not work out a 
method to save our country. They will not listen to a proposal of peace 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 1864. 451 

which does not offer that which this Government has no right to ask. . . . 
We are resolved that the party which has made the history of our eonn- 
trj, since its advent to power, seem like some unnatural and terrible 
dream shall be overthrown." 

What was it that the Government, in his opinion, had no right to 
ask ? This : the freedom of the slaves. 

Men animated bv lofty ideals, by high moral principle, when confront- 
ed by great moral questions and emergencies ; men who are gifted with 
far-sightedness into coming years, who have the faculty of advancing, as it 
were, into those years and looking back upon the present, rarely make 
mistakes in statesmanship ; but Horatio Seymour and the men composing 
the Chicago Democratic Convention were not thus endowed. They were 
blinded by prejudice, ])artisan zeal, and passion, and saw only a hated po- 
litical party to be overthrown, and victorious armies which they desired 
should melt away. The Stars and Stripes, stained with the blood of dying- 
heroes, awakened no enthusiasm in the convention. The aim, intention, 
and spirit of the members were thus expressed: "The Constitution has 
been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike 
trodden down, and tlie material prosperity of the country injured. Jus- 
tice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate 
efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate 
convention of all the States, that at the earliest practicable moment peace- 
may be restored." 

The resolutions were written by Mr. Vallandigham. The Peace Dem- 
ocrats had the making of the platform, but they had no candidate upon 
whom they could nnite, and so it came about that General McClellan was 
nominated as candidate for the Presidency, and Mr. Pendleton, of Ohio, 
for Vice-president. General McClellan had been idolized by a portion of 
the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. From the hour of his removal, 
in November, 18G2, a portion of the Democratic party had selected him as 
the candidate who would be most likely to defeat Mr. Lincoln ; but when 
his name was brought before the convention some of the members hissed 
their disapproval. "General McClellan," shouted Mr. Harris, delegate 
from Maryland, "is a tyrant! He it was who first initiated the policy by 
which our liberties were stricken down." He referred to the arrest of 
the members of the Legislature of Maryland by General McClellan. "He 
is the assassin of State rights, the usurper of liberty, and if nominated will 
be beaten as he was at Antietam," continued Mr. Harris. 

"You have arraigned Lincoln," said Mr. Long, of Ohio, "for interfer- 
ing with the freedom of speech, the freedom of elections and of arbitrary 



452 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

arrests, and jet you propose to nominate a man who has been guilty of 
the arrest of the LegisL^ture of a sovereign State. lie has suspended the 
writ of habeas corpus and lielped to enforce tlie odious Emancipation 
Proclamation of Lincoln, the willing instrument of a corrupt and tyranni- 
cal administration." 

AVliile the convention was resolving that the war was a failure the 
Confederate flag — waving over Fort Morgan, at tlie entrance to the Bay 
of Mobile — was giving place to the Stars and Stripes, the troops of Sher- 
man, with drums beating and colors flying, were marching into Atlanta, 
and the artillery of the Army of the Potomac was hurling a salute of shot 
and shell into the Confederate trenches at Petersburg. 

Not a cheer went up from the convention when the news of the sur- 
render of Fort Morgan was received, but there was a sinking of hope in- 
stead. It was a convention in which disaster to the Union armies would 
liave been welcome news. More than this, while the convention was hold- 
ing its sessions the Confederate officers connnissioned by Jefferson Davis 
to bring about the outbreak in Chicago were counting their followers, 
and also the number of soldiers guarding the prisoners. The Confederate 
prisoners had organized themselves into companies, regiments, and bri- 
gades. After the war ended and there was no longer any need for secrecy 
they informed the Union officer who paroled them that it was their inten- 
tion to leave the cit.y.('') They found, however, that a great many of the 
men who v/ere cursing Abraham Lincoln and shouting for Yallandigham 
liad no inclination to join in an attack upon veteran soldiers who had been 
in a score of battles. The Confederate officers had spies in every place 
— in the telegraph office and close by Colonel Sweet's headquarters. The 
Sons of Liberty outnumbered the soldiers two to one, but they were not 
organized. The Confederates could not hope to succeed without their 
aid. The convention adjourned, and the great crowd of Sons of Liberty, 
whose fare had been paid to Chicago by money from the Confederate 
treasury, through Mr. Tliompson, left the city, together with the Confed- 
erates, who had registered at tlie hotels under assumed names. 

The reception by the public of the doings of the convention was 
not what Horatio Seymour and Mr. Yallandigham, representing the two 
sections of the convention, expected. They thought that a majority of 
the people were weary of the war, and were ready to make peace on any 
terms, and that the name of General McClellan would awaken great en- 
thusiasm. The resolutions demanded peace, but the candidate had been 
nominated for what he had done in carrying on the war. If it was right 
to begin the war to maintain the authority of the Constitution and the 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MIDSUMMER, 1364. 453 

Union, it was right to carry it on ; if it was wrong, then General McClel- 
lan's course of action was wrong. General Grant, General Eosecrans, and 
a large number of the generals, and many thousands of soldiers, had acted 
with tlie Democratic party, and the resolutions which had been accepted 
l)y only four dissenting votes were condemnatory of what tliey were do- 
ing to preserve the Union. They reflected that no cheer had been given 
when the news of tlie surrender of Fort Morgan was received ; that no 
hurrah rent the air when the telegraph brought the information that the 
Stars and Stripes wei-e flying over Atlanta. Tke people saw that the 
action of tlie convention was hollow-hearted and insincere. The meaning 
of the resolutions was plain— peace on any tei-ms wliicli miglit be dictated 
by the Confederate Government; the end a divided country, the Consti- 
tution torn to tatters, the government of the peojile a failure. 

General McClellan repudiated the resolutions but accepted the nomi- 
nation. The false attitude of the Democratic party, together with the 
victories won by the armies of the Union, made the political defeat of 
General McClellan a foregone conclusion. Principles are priceless jewels ; 
men, individually or as a party, cannot deliberately and recklessly throw 
them away and maintain the respect of their fellow-men. A quarter of a 
century has gone by since the Democratic party cast aside its time-honored 
principles at Chicago through the machinations of Jefferson Davis and at 
the dictation of Mr. Vallandigham, but the time has not been sufiiciently 
long for that party to wholly outgrow the blighting influence of its action 
in 18(34. 

NOTES TO CHAPTER XVIII. 

( ' ) Jefferson Diivis, "Rise aud Fall of the Confederate Government," vol. ii., p. GIL 
( - ) Capt. T. Henr}^ Ilines, Southern Bivouac, December, 1886. 
( ') Green B. Smith, testimony reported in St. Louis Democral, August 5, 1863. 
( •*) F. G. Stidger, testimonj' reported in " Treason Trials at Indianapolis," p. 24. 
( *) Chicago Times, August 1, 1864. 

( ^) Capt. T. Henry Hines, Southern Bivouac, January, 1887. 
( ') Thompson to Benjamin, unpublished Confederate State Papers. 
( ^) Gen. II. B. Carrington to Author. 

( ^) F. G. Stidger, testimony reported in " Treason Trials at Indianapolis," pp. 22-28. 
('") William Clayton, testimony reported in "Treason Trials at Indianapolis," p. 41. 
( " ) Atlanta Regifiter, quoted in Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1864. 
('■') xUlantie Monthlij, July, 1865, p. 109. 
('•') Capt. T. Henry Hines, Southern Bivouac, February, 1S87. 
(") Idem. 
('^) Idem. 

( •«) Quoted in Atlantic Monthly, July, 1865. 

("i Gov. William Bross, "Biographical Sketch of the late Gen. B. J. Sweet," p. 18. 
C*) Captain Thurley to Gov. William Bross, quoted in "Biographical Sketch of the 
late Gen. B. .J Sweet." 
29* 



454 REDEEMING THE KEPUBLIC. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

SILENT FORCES. 

IX the War of tlie Rebellion forces other than those in arms, marshalled 
upon the battle-iiekl, were at work to bring about final defeat to the 
Confederates, ultimate victory to the armies of the Union. They were 
forces silent and unseen, never responding to reveiUs or roll-call, never 
keeping step with the drum-beat, never rending the air with volleys of 
musketry or the thunder of the cannonade. They marshalled them- 
selves without waiting for orders from president or general. When Jef- 
ferson Davis and his fellow-conspirators planned to overthrow the Gov- 
ernment of the people, they took no account of the silent powers that 
would come unbidden into the contest to work for the discomfiture and 
defeat of the Confederacy, or, if they saw them, they greatly under-esti- 
mated their strength and power. 

Let us keep ever in mind the truth that the war was a conflict be- 
tween two systems of labor; on one side, the labor of bondmen who 
could be bought and sold, who were only property — so many hundred 
dollars' worth of flesh, bone, muscle, and brains — valued in proportion to 
their ability to guide the plough, wield the hoe, or their deftness in pick- 
ing cotton, stripping tobacco, waiting upon master or mistress, or to be- 
come mothers. However kind the master or mistress, however tender the 
relation between owner and slave, the commercial value overshadowed and 
controlled all other considerations. Financial distress, the taking away 
by death of master or mistress, brought the slave to the auction-block, 
side by side with the master's favorite horse, his oxen and pigs. The Con- 
federacy was established on property ownership in human beings. The 
laws of the seceding States were framed to meet the needs of such a 
s^'stem of labor. Society consp'ucted itself upon the system, and the 
political and domestic economy of the Confederacy was framed upon it 
for conducting the war. Tlie opposing system was that of the free men 
who were their own masters, each individual exercising in his own way 
the endowment of powers which he had received froui his Creator; free 



SILENT FORCES. 



455 



to go and come, to labor or rest, enjoy tlie fruits of his toil, to make the 
most of himself. 

When the war began, the great planters of the South, and the con- 
spirators who had brought about the conflict, declared, and not without 
reason, that slavery would be an element of strength to the Confederacy; 
that while the masters would do the fighting, the slaves would still do the 
ploughing, cultivating, producing, and harvesting; whereas every Union 
soldier called from the plough, harvest- Held, or workshop would be a with- 
drawal of so much productive labor. It was a common sentiment through- 
out the seceding States that the slaves would supply all necessary produc- 
tions for an army not only for defence, but for an invasion of the Northern 




AGRICULTUllAL INDUSTRY IN THE CONFEDERACY. 



States. But an army or a community cannot live upon bread alone. The 
States of the Confederacy were agricultural but not industrial. They had 
no great manufactures, but were dependent upon the Northern States or 
foreign countries for implements used upon the plantations, utensils in 
the household, or tlie clothing worn alike by iriaster, mistress, and slave. 
Before the outbreak of the war, a member of Congress from the Southern 



456 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

States said : " You want Bibles, brooms, buckets, and books, and you go 
to the North; you want pens, ink, wafers, envelopes, and you go to the 
Xorth ; you want shoes, hats, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, pocket-knives, and 
you go to the JSTortli ; you want fnrniture, crockery, glassware, pianos, and 
you go to the North ; you want toys, school-books, fashionable apparel, 
machinery, medicines, tombstones, and a thousand other things, and you 
go North for them." The Southern States manufactured nothing because 
labor was not free ; the Northern States manufactured every article called 
for by the ever-increasing wants of a progressive civilization. The abso- 
lute needs of the human race are few; its wants are an ever-increasing 
quantity, regulated only by nuin's ability to satisfy them. The slave need- 
ed only clothes of the coarsest material. lie consumed corn, rice, molas- 
ses, sweet-potatoes, pea-nuts, and bacon. The cotton planters of South Car- 
olina needed no machinery except the cotton-gin ; the sugar phuiters of 
Louisiana none except the mill to pi-ess the juice from the sugar-cane. 
Slavery degraded free labor, and it wanted no machinery to supplant hu- 
man muscles and so depress the value of slaves in the market. The records 
of the Patent OtSce accorded few inventions to the slave States, while in 
every machine-shop in the North, journeyman and apprentice, as they 
watched the* movement of wheels and pinions doing the work of human 
hands, were ever thinking of some contrivance wliereby production woukl 
be quickened and cheapened. The South, with all its natural wealth of 
iron and coal, purchased its machinery in the North. The engineers run- 
ning the locomotives upon its railroads were from the North. Seeing only 
the needs of the world for cotton; believing that the millwheels of New 
England would soon cease to turn; that grass would grow in the streets of 
Boston and New York, Philadelphia and Chicago ; that the thousands of 
wage-earners in the North would be chimoring only for bread ; that Eng- 
land would send her iieets to break any blockade that might be established 
to obtain cotton for her starving millions — seeing only this aspect of polit- 
ical economy, the conspirators brought about the appeal to arms. 

We have already seen how the railroads of the Confederacy were wear- 
ing out; that there were no mills where new rails could be rolled ; that the 
Government was wholly dependent upon England for its supplies of arms ; 
that through the enforcement of the blockade, the increasing watchfulness 
on the part of the sailors, it was becoming daily more difHcult for vessels 
to run the blockade ; but be3'ond all this, tliere weve powerful forces at 
work to bring about the inevitable result — the overthrowing of a system 
of lal)or antagonistic to the welfare of the people and an advancing civili- 
zation. The Confederate Government at Richmond, through ISB-i, was 



SILENT FORCES. 457 

« 

laying its plans for a long continuance of the struggle. Jefferson Davis 
and the Confederate Congress did not comprehend how swift and power- 
ful were the silent forces at work for their overthrow. 

Just before the war began a gentleman living in Alabama made an in- 
ventory of his property and its valuation in gold. He owned eight hun- 
dred acres of land, twelve grown-u]) slaves, and eight slave children, who 
were not large enough to work, but which, like colts and young pigs, had 
a certain market value. Tiiis was the inventory : 

Eight hundred acres of land $8,000 

Twelve slaves 14,000 

Eight young slaves 4,000 

Cattle and farming implements , , 1,000 

Seven mules 1,050 

One horse 200 

$28,300 

He was accustomed to raise sixty bales of cotton per annum, which he 
sold for three thousand dollars. His wants were few, and his exj)enses did 
not exceed one thousand dollars per annum. His slaves were sure to in- 
crease in number, and he could look forward to a large and constantly inr 
creasing annual income through their labor. The war had changed the 
aspect of affairs. In midsunnner, 1864, he had the same acreage of land, 
but his slaves had increased ; he had twenty-four able-bodied men and 
women besides twenty slave children. The price of cotton had changed, 
as had the value of everything else. This was the valuation in Confeder- 
ate money and in gold : 

CONFF.DERATE MoNEY. Goi.n. 

Eight hundred acres of laud $40,000 $1,143 

Twenty-four slaves 96,000 2,743 

Twenty slave children , 30,000 860 

Cattle and hogs 4,000 114 

Farming implements 2,500 71 

Horses and mules, none— all having been im- 
pressed by the Confederate Government. 

$172,500 $4,930 ' 

The country had been divided into districts, and an impressing agent 
appointed in each district, who was ordered from time to time to take such 
property as was not actually necessary for the support of a family. . The 
prices were lixed by two commissioners — one appointed by the State, and 
one by the Confederate Government. The commissioners met every 
month, and gave valuation upon the property taken, giving a certificate of 



458 



REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 



the Government's indebtedness. If tliey suspected any property had been 
secreted, the premises were rigorously searched. (') 

Before the outbreak of the Rebellion the conspirators never were tired 
of saying "Cotton is king; it rules the world;" but in 1864 this gentle- 
man, owning eight hundred acres of land, was not allowed by law to 




"COTTON IS king!" — A COTTON SHED IN NEW ORLEANS. 



plant more than three acres with cotton-seed. One of his neighbors has 
written the following account of the dealings of the Confederate Govern- 
ment Avitli him : 

"My friend has had all his liorses impressed. He is allowed by law 
to plant only three acres of cotton. All his meat (bacon), above one-half 
the usual allov/ance for liis negroes, has been impressed. All his cattle, 
except oxen actually used on his farm, and milch cows actually giving 
milk, and all other cattle except sucking calves, are impressed. He is 
unable to obtain more than half the iron requisite for his ploughshares. 
His negroes have not for four years had a single blanket, but for a substi- 
tute a loose spongy fabric of home-made cotton. One of these poor sub- 



SILENT FORCES. 459 

stitutes for blankets is given each year to every adult negro. The children 
have none. He and his immediate family have only such clothing as they 
make from the fabric produced on their own wheels and looms, introduced 
in 1861 and 1862. As they have no sheep, thej^have no wool for blankets 
or anything else. . . . His property is consumed by taxation, Iiis servants 
are a burden ; he has abandoned the idea of educating his children. . . . 
His last carpet, being cut into pieces two yards long by one wide, has gone 
where all his blankets and most of his coverlets have gone to eke out the 
limited blankets of the soldiers." (') 

Taxation, the waste of war, the depreciation of the value of slaves 
through the want of a market, and the continued advance of the armies 
of tlie Union, the inabilitj^ to construct and employ machinery to do the 
work of human hands, together, were depriving the people of the Confed- 
eracy of power to continue the contest. After General Sherman entered 
Atlanta there was but one niachine-shop and one rolling-mill remaining in 
the Confederacy — that at Richmond, employed not in rolling rails or build- 
ing locomotives, but in turning out cannon, shot, and shells. Every loco- 
motive destroyed, every freight car worn out or burned, was so much loss 
of inanimate force which could not be replaced. 

The wealth of the Confederacy consisted not of money, but of land 
and slaves, neither of which could be converted into gold, A planter 
might sell his slaves, but he would receive only promises to pay, issued 
by the Confederate Government. He was confronted by the (piestion 
as to what he should do with them. Until Xovem])er, 1861, the paper 
currency had been accepted at its face value, but when people saw that 
the armies of the Union were j)reparing for a great struggle it began to 
depreciate in value. The amounts required to buy one hundred dollars 
in gold were: December, 1861, $120; do., 1862, $300; do., 1863, $1900; 
do., 1864, $5000. 

In 1864 the men who raised corn and wheat would not sell it to receive 
pay in the promises issued by the Government, which, as we have seen, 
became a despotism, and sent its impressing officers to seize wdiatever was 
needed, giving in return certiticates of the Government's indebtedness. 
The owners of slaves refused to hire them to the Government, but im- 
pressing officers took them to build intrenchments, drive teams, and cook 
for the soldiers. The States had seceded that slavery might be established 
forever, and that under it the conspirators might retain political power; 
but now slavery was disappearing under the silent forces, and far-seeing 
men were looking forward to the hour when through the utter exhaustion 
of the material wealth of the country it would, with the Confederacy as a 



460 



EEDEEMING THE EEPUBLIC. 



form of Government, go down before the continued victories of the armies 
under Grant and Sherman. Jefferson Davis and the members of liis 
Cabinet, liovvever, in midsummer of 1864, were not looking for any such 
result. The Democratic party of the North liad raised tiie cry that there 
must be peace at any price, that the Soutli would accept peace on reason- 
able terms. President Lincoln did not believe that Jefferson Davis would 
consent to a peace on any terms except the absohite independence of the 




WEAVmG IN THE CONFEDERACY. 



Confederate States. To test the matter he permitted two gentlemen. 
Colonel Jacques and Mr. J. R. Gihnore, to visit Richmond to see on what 
terms the Confederate Government would enter into negotiations for peace. 
" The war must go on," said Mr. Davis, " till the last of this generation 
falls in his tracks, and his children seize his musket and fight his battle, 
unless you acknowledge our right to self-government. We are not light- 
ing for slavery; we are fighting for independence, and that or extermina- 
tion we will have." 




WEAVING IN THE NOKTH. 



SILENT FORCES. 



463 



" May we suggest that a general vote of the people of both sections be 
allowed to be taken upon the question, and let the majority settle it ?" 
said one of the gentlemen. 

"We seceded to rid ourselves of the rule of the majority, and this 
would subject us to it again." 

" But the majority must rule in the end, either with ballots or bullets." 

" I am not so sure of that. Neither current events nor history can 
show that the majority rules, or ever did rule. The contrary, I think, is 
true. The man who should go before the Southern people with such a 
proposition — with any proposition which implied that the North was to 




THE POWER OF FREIi LABOR. 



have a voice in determining the domestic relations of the South, could not 
live here a day ; he would be hanged to the first tree without judge or 
jury. Say to Mr. Lincoln that I shall at any time be pleased to receive 
proposals for peace on the basis of our indejDendence. It will be useless to 
approach me on any other." (') 

It is not probable that the members of the Confederate Government, 
with the comforts to be found in Richmond, had any adequate comprehen- 
sion of the rapid wasting of the resources of the country, or of the hard- 
ships of the people. There was not much suiiering during the first two 
years of the war, but in 1864 the supply of boots, shoes, clothing, pins, 



464 . REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

needles, fine thread, and tlie countless articles in common use was ex- 
liausted. The blockade was so stringently enforced that not many vessels 
could enter the carefully guarded ports of Wilmington and Charleston, 
the only ones held by the Confederates east of the Mississippi after Farra- 
gut had compelled the surrender of the forts at the entrance of Mobile Bay. 

A lady in Alabama has pictured the daily life of women who for- 
merly lived daintily, with household slaves to minister to every want. 
She was on a large plantation in the interior of the State. " AYe were 
far," she wrote, " fi'om the border States, remote from the seaboard. Our 
soldiers had to be fed and clothed ; our home ones had to be fed and 
clothed. All clothing and provisions for the slaves had to be produced 
and manufactured at home. Leather had to be of our own tanning. The 
huge bales of kerseys, osnaburgs, and boxes of heavy brogan shoes, which 
had been shipped from the North to clothe and shoe the slaves, were things 
of the past." (") 

Leather was made from pig-skins, tanned in a trough with oak-bark. 
It was a great mortification for young ladies to wear pig-skin shoes. (^) As 
no shoe-blacking or polish could be had, each family made its own of soot 
and cotton-seed oil and flour paste. It was again the age of homespun 
articles of clothing, carding cotton by hand into rolls, spinning yarn, and 
weaving cloth in the household loom. For coloring the cloth a cask was 
partly filled with vinegar and water, into which were thrown old nails, bits 
of iron, old horseshoes, which made a mordant for setting the colors — 
garnet from the roots of the pine, blue from the indigo-plant, brown from 
the bark of butternut. 

These her words : " I doubt very much if a fine sheet could have been 
found in any house in our settlement when the war closed. Perhaps there 
was not one in the blockaded South." (") 

Fine white pillow-shams were cut up and made into white waists. Bed- 
ticking, with its stripes of blue, was used for dress goods. This the picture 
of the system of labor upon which the Confederacy had been establislied : 
" If a negro was sick, a doctor who was already paid was called in all haste, 
as planters used to engage a doctor l)y the year at so much for each slave, 
whether large or small. One negro boy called 'Jim,' about eighteen years 
of age, was quite sick of a fever. His master and mistress had him brought 
from the 'quarters' over to the dwelling-yard, and placed in the cook's 
cabin, so that he might be given close attention. One or the other watched 
him day and night (for he M'as a very valuable boy), and gave him med- 
icine. On Saturday his master had to go to the city, and he asked me 
to help his wife and dangliter care for Jim, saying as he stepped into his 



SILENT FORCES. 467 

buggy, ' Now, be careful of him, and see to it that he lacks for nothing, 
for if he dies I've lost one thousand dollars good as gold.'"(') Behind 
the tenderness that cared for Jitn as a human being was his commercial 
value as a piece of property. This propert}'^ was disappearing. Wherever 
the Union armies marched, the slaves abandoned master and mistress to 
become freemen. The area of slavery was rapidly diminishing. All the 
rice-growing lands of Georgia and South Carolina were overrun by ]^orth- 
ern troojDS. The valley of the Mississippi from Xew Orleans to Memphis 
was once more beneath the Stars and Stripes. Tlie great army of the 
north-west had wrenched Atlanta from the Confederacy. The railroads 
were worn out ; locomotives broken down. Swiftly, in 1S64-, the silent 
forces incident to the system of labor on which the Confederacy had been 
established were weakening and undermining the power of Jeiferson 
Davis to continue the struggle. 

Far different was the efficacy of the silent forces in the Northern States. 
Knowledge is power; in freedom there is energy of action. The people 
of the North at the beginning of the war were unprepared for a conflict. 
The building of batteries on Morris Island and the firing npon Fort Sumter 
were a surprise. When they awoke to the sad reality that war had begun, 
they found that they must organize great armies and furnish every needful 
supply. Men left the plough, laid down trowel, hammer, and plane, to 
become soldiers. Instead of being producers they became consumers. 
They must be armed, equipped, and fed. Multifarious their wants. They 
must have not only boots, shoes, and clothing, but knapsacks, canteens, 
belts, swords, guns, pistols, cannon, cartridges, tents, wagons, harnesses — 
all the appliances of war. Jefferson Davis and the slave propagandists 
reasoned correctly, that a man taken from the farms and workshops of 
the Northern States would diminish the number of producers, but they 
did not comprehend the reproductive power of a free people. They did 
not forecast the ability of free labor to make good the loss. Forges began 
to flame, and millwheels whirled as never before. Manufacturers deprived 
of cotton changed their machinery, adapting it for spinning and weaving 
of woollens to supply the soldiers with clothing. Sheep began to mul- 
tiply upon the green mountains of Vermont, the granite hills of New 
Hampshire, and the broad prairies of the West. Jeft'erson Davis, in his 
speech at Montgomery on the evening of his inauguration as Provisional 
President of the Confederacy, predicted that grass would grow in the streets 
of Boston and New York ; but never in the history of the nation was there 
such a busy tramping of feet and rumbling of wheels. Inventive genius 
was contriving new machinery to do the work of human muscles. Keaping- 



468 REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC. 

machines Lad been in use before .the war, but now their music was lieard in 
every harvest-field. No longer was there the swinging of the scythe amid 
tlie clover-blooms, but the farmer was guiding his stalwart team, and the 
mowing-machine was cutting the fragrant grasses, while the farmers' sons 
M'ere behind the trenches of Petersburg or holding the hill at Atlanta. 
Everywhere there was life, activity, and unparalleled energy. Tliere were 
more trains upon the railroads. Louder than ever before was the ringing 
of the carpenters' axes in the ship-yards of the Merrimac, the Piscataqua, 
and alono- the shores of Maine. IS'ever before were the builders of en opines 
for steamships .so busy ; never so great the demand for locomotives and 
railroad cars. The harbors of New York and Boston were white with sails 
of vessels arriving from or departing to foreign shores. Agriculture, man- 
ufactures, commerce, alike felt the mighty energy of a great free people, 
animated by a lofty ideal — that, cost what it might, the Pebellion should 
be crushed, and that which had caused it swept from the country. 

While organizing and supporting great armies, while calling more than 
two million young men to the field, the countrj^ began the construction of 
a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to bind the Union indissolubly 
together with the bands of commerce. While the thunder of the cannon- 
ade was reverberating from the Potomac to the James, the great white 
dome of the Capitol of the nation was rising in its beauty and glory. A 
free community, having unwavering faith in itself, in its government, in 
the righteousness of the cause for which it was fighting — having abiding 
confidence in the future destiny of the republic — astonished the world by 
its activity and power. The faith of the nation in itself was the power- 
ful, unseen, and silent force which was bearing it on to final victory. 

In another volume we shall see how at last the Confederacy suddenly 
disappeared as a bubble upon a swirling stream ; how slavery, which 
brought about the war, was swept from the land, and how out of all the 
waste, the desolation, sorrow, and woe there began a new and greater life 
of the nation from the efforts put forth in Redeeming the Republic. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XIX. 

(') Q. S. Plumley, Harper's Magazine, August, 1864. 

(2) Idem. 

(^) J. W. Draper, "The Civil War in America," vol. iii., p. 474. 

(•») Parthenia Antoinette Hayne, "A Blockaded Family," p. 15. 

(5) Idem. 

(«) Idem, p. 115. 

(') Idem. 



INDEX. 



(C, Confederate; U, Union.) 



Abbott, Colonel (U.), 336. 

Abbott, J. H., Sergeant (U.), 184. 

Alabama Regiment (C), the Thirtj^-sccond, 

232; the Forty-eighth, 232. 
Alden, Captain (U.), 383. 
Alexander, Captain (U.), 280. 
Ames's division (U.), 142, 146, 151, 178. 
Anderson, Captain (U.), 430. 
Anderson, Colonel (U.), 200. 
Anderson, Colonel (C), 398. 
Anderson, General (C.>, 95, 98, 100. 
Anderson, Mr. (C), 433. 
Anderson, Robert, Major (U.), 34. 
Anderson's corps (C), 315. 
Arniand, Colonel (C), 54. 
Armstrong, Lieutenant (C), 309. 
Army of the Cumberland (U.), 199, 208, 215, 

231, 254, 343, 405, 413. 
Army of the James (U.), 140. 

Army of the Ohio (U.), 199, 208, 215, 231, 
236, 336, 405, 415. 

Army of the Potomac (U.), 73, 97, 133, 199, 
208, 374. 

Army of the Tennessee (U.). 199, 208, 216, 
231, 405, 413. 

Atkinson, Sidney (U.), 151. 

Audenreid, Major (U.), 13. 

Augur, C. C, Gen. (U.), 283. 

Averill, John T., Gen. (U.), 261, 267, 270, 
433, 436. 

Ayres's brigade (U.), 102, 122, 181. 

Bailey, Joseph, Colonel (U.), 62, 65. 

Baird, Absalom, Gen. (U.), 416. 

Baird's division (U.), 17,416. 

Baldwin, Captain (U.), 296. 

Banks, N. P., Gen. (U.), 48, 53, 56, 58, 73, 

112. 294. 
Barlow, Francis C, Gen. (U.), 109, 116, 186, 

189. 



Barlow's division (U.), 104, 107, 116, 324, 327, 
358. 

Barry, General (U.), 240. 

Bartlett's brigade (U.), 102, 181. 

Barton's brigade (C), 22, 140. 

Bate, General (C), 239, 244. 

Bate's division (C), 344. 347, 349. 

Battery: Arnold's (U.), 109; Battery B. (U.), 
56; the Chicago Mercantile (U.), 53; De 
Gress's (U.), 355 ; the Eighth Michigan 
(U.), 346, 354; the First Iowa (U.), 240; 
the First United States (U.), 56; the First 
Vermont (U.), 56; the Fourth United States 
(U.), 138; the Fourteenth Ohio (U.), 349; 
Hooper's (U.), 354 ; Klaus's (U.), 53 ; Mc- 
Knight's (U.), 369; McMahon's (C), 53; 
Metcalf's(U.), 119; Nims's(U.), 53, 57; the 
Ninth Indiana (U.), 56; Pennington's (U.), 
274; Prescott's (U.), 416; Simouson's Indi- 
ana (U.), 244 ; the Tenth Massachusetts 
(U.), 186; the Twenty-tifth New York (U.), 
56; Valvedere (C), 57; William's Third 
Ohio (U.), 346, 354. 
Battle's brigade (U.). 117. 
Battles : Atlanta, 348; Atlanta, siege of, 401 ; 
Bermuda Hundred, 137; Cold Harbor, 178; 
Dallas, 240; Drcwry's Bluff, 142; Dug Gap, 
213; Ezra Church, 405; Fort Morgan, bom- 
bardment of, 386; Fort Pillow, 38; Fort 
Powell, bombardment of, 379. 397; Hano- 
ver, 157; Hawes's Store, 166; Jonesborough, 
414 ; Kenesaw, 254 ; Louisa Court-house, 
273'; IMonocacv River, 280; New Hope 
Church, 232; New 3Iarket, 262; North 
Anna, 161; Olustee, 22; Paducah, 37; 
Peach-tree Creek, 344; Petersburg, siege 
of, 324, 358; Pickett's Mill, 236; Piedmont, 
266; Pleasant Hill, 58; Resaca, 214; Spott- 
sylvania, 100; Totopotomoy, 177; 'Wilder- 
ness, 86. 



470 



INDEX. 



Beard, Colonel (C), 54. 

Beauregard. P. G. T., Gen. (C), 22, 38; at 
Weklon, 133; near Petersburg, 141 ; sends 
message to Jefferson Davis, 142; at Drew- 
ry's Bluff, 143, 145, 150; at Bermuda Hun- 
dred, 151; sends despatch to Bragg, 312, 
328; sends a brigade to Wise, 314; sends 
telegrams to Lee, 319; sends troops to Pe- 
tersburg, 324; advantage of position, 327; 
reasons for his view of Grant's movements, 
331 ; credit due for holding Petersburg, 
332; sends to Lee for troops, 373. 

Beaver, Colonel (U.), 190. 

Beckwith, General (U.), 200. 

Bell's brigade (C), 41. 

Belmont, Mr. (U.), 450. 

Benedict's brigade (U.), 55. 

Benning's division (C), 91. 

Bidwell's brigade (U.), 286. 

Birney, General (U.), 117, 124, 186. 

Birney's division (U.), 91, 104, 108, 110, 116, 
124, 320, 324. 

Blair, F. P., Gen. (U.), 208, 243, 351, 355. 405, 
414. 

Blair, Mr. (U.), 286. 

Booth, L. F., Major (C), 38, 41. 

Bradford, Governor of Maryland (U.), 283. 

Bradford, Major (C), 41, 42. 

Bragg, Braxton, Gen. (C), 17, 73, 133, 203, 
207, 312, 340. 

Bray, Benjamin (U.), 150. 

Breckinridge, John C, Gen. (C), 158, 163, 
262, 265, "267. 274, 444. 

Breckinridge, Robert J. (U.), 444. 

Breckinridge's division (C), 190. 

Breeze, Captain (U.), 48. 

Brooks, Colonel (U.), 109. 

Brooks, General (U.). 190. 

Brooks's brigade (U.), 104, 108, 116, 139, 146. 
148, 178, 182, 320. 

Brough, John, :Mr. (U.), 442. 

Brow^'n, Captain (U.), 280. 

Brown, Colonel (U.), 109. 

Brown. General (C), 406. 

Brown. Governor of Georgia (C), 221, 258, 
340. 

Brown, Lieutenant (U.), 383. 

Brown, Major (C), 398. 

Brown's brigade (U.), 116. 

Bryan's brigade (C), 182. 

Buchanan, Admiral (C), 384, 391, 394. 

Buchanan, James, President (U.), 444. 

Buchell's cavalry (C), 56. 

Buckner, Simon B., Gen. (C), 427. 

Buillet, Judge (C), 446. 



Burbridge, Stephen G., Gen. (IT.), 427. 

Burnham. General (U.). 183. 

Buruside, Ambrose E., Maj.-gen. (U.), at An- 
napolis, 73; at Washington, 75; at the Wil- 
derness, 86; at Spottsylvania, 121; at Ok 
Ford, 162; puts himself under Meade, 164; 
at Cold Harbor, 186, 190 ; at Petersburg, 
322, 366, 370. 

Butler, B. F., Gen. (U.), at Fortress ]\[onroe, 
73, 77; at City Point, 99, 103, 131, 137, 312; 
receives instructions from Grant, 133; at 
Bermuda Hundred, 138, 141; declines plan 
proposed by Smith and Gilmore, 141; at 
Drewry's Bluff. 142, 146, 150 ; withdraws 
to Bermuda Hundred, 151; sends troops to 
Grant, 178; at Petersburg, 370. 

Butler, Mr. (C), 48. 

Butler's brigade, (C), 166, 178. 273. 

Buttertield's division (U.), 220. 232. 

Byrd's brigade (U.), 336. 

Byrnes, Colonel (U.). 190. 

Cabell, Sergeant (C). 264. 

Cameron, General (U.), 55. 

Cameron's brigade (U.), 254, 386. 

Canby, General (U.). 112, 380. 

Candy's brigade (U.). 232. 

Canty 's division (C). 208, 212. 

Carlin, General (U.), 416. 

Carlin's division (U.), 415. 

Carney, Joe, Lieutenant (C), 222. 

Carr. Billy (C), 222. 

Carriugton, Colonel (U.), 443. 

Carrol i. General (U.), 122. 

Carroll's brigade (U.), 110. 117. 

Casement, Colonel (U.), 339. 

Casey, David (U.), 193. 

Casey, Mr. (C), 48. 

Castleman, John B., Capt. (C), 442, 448. 

Chambers, John C. , Lieut, col. (U.), 150. 

Chapman's brigade (U.), 127. 

Chase, Secretary (U.), 444. 

Cheatham, B. F., Gen. (C), 257, 405, 417. 

Cheatham's corps (C), 17, 343, 345, 347, 354, 

357. 
Churchill's division (C), 56. 
Clark, Adjutant-general (U.), 349. 
Clay, Clement C. (C), 440, 447. 
Cleary, W. W. (C), 440. 
Cleburne's division (C), 17, 236, 344, 347, 

351, 354, 357, 416. 
Clendennis, Colonel (U.), 278. 
Clingman's brigade (C), 149, 151, 181. 
Cochrane, John C, Gen. (U.),444. 
Cole, Edwin (U.), 150. 



INDEX. 



471 



Cole, William D. (U.), 150. 

Collins, John, pilot (U.), 386. 

Colquitt, General (C), 22. 

Colquitt's brigade (C), 142, 146, 370. 

Comstock, Colonel (U.), 98. 

Confederacy, song of the, 1 ; object of the, 

6; dealing in cotton, 47,49; principle on 

which established, 454. 
Connecticut Regiment (U.), the Seventh, 22; 

the Second, 182; the Eighteenth, 263; the 

Tenth, 324; First Artillery, 366. 
Cooper, Adjutant-general (C), 342. 
Corse's brigade (C), 142, 149, 151. 
Couch, General (U. ), 434. 
Coulter's brigade (U.), 102. 
Co.x, Generar(U.), 215, 239, 254. 
Co.x's division (U.), 336, 340. 
Craven, Captain (U.), 386. 
Crawford's division (U.), 86, 102, 110, 158, 

181, 327. 
Crittenden's division (U.), 162, 181. 
Crook, General (U.), 77, 260, 267, 269, 433. 
Cruft's division (U.), 17. 
Curtin, A. G., Governor of Pennsylvania 

(U.), 434. 
Curtin's brigade (U.), 326. 
Custer, George A., Gen. (U.), 25, 29, 178, 273. 
Custer's brigade (U.), 126, 167, 178. 
Custis, Mr. (C), 128. 
Cutler's division (U.), 102, 110, 158, 160, 181. 

Dahlgren, Ulrich, Col. (U.), 25, 29. 

Daniel, General (C), 118, 121. 

Davies's brigade (U.), 126. 

Davis, General (U.), 336, 405, 415. 

Davis, Jefferson (C), calls for more men, 4; 
sends orders to Beauregard, 134; at Drevv- 
ry's Bluff, 142; appoints Johnston to com- 
mand of army, 204; removes him, 340; fa- 
vors movement of Wheeler at Atlanta, 406; 
views of political aft'airs, 439 ; orders to 
Colonel Hines, 441; does not comprehend 
powers at work to defeat the Confederacy, 
454, 460. 

Davis's division (U.), 17, 235. 

Dayton, Mr., Minister to France (U.), 296. 

De Bray's cavalry (C), 53, 56. 

De Gress, Captain (U.), 355. 

Dearing, General (C), 146, 316. 

Delaware Regiment, the Second (U.), 116. 

Denison's brigade (U.), 102. 

Deviu's brigade (U.), 126, 178, 182. 

Dickey, Captain (U.), 54, 56. 

Dodge, General (U.). 208, 236, 349, 414. 

Dole, General (C), 182. 



Dole's brigade (C), 110. 
Donaldson, Commander (U.), 383. 
Donaldson, General (U.), 200. 
Douty, Jacob, Lieutenant (U.), 370. 
Drayton, Captain (U.), 383, 385. 
Duane, Major (U.), 315, 334. 
Duckworth, Colonel (C), 34. 
Duffie, General (U.), 267, 270. 
Dwight's brigade (U.), 55. 

Early, Jural A., Gen. (C), at the Wilder- 
ness, 93; at Spottsylvania, 100, 104, 107; at 
lheTotopotomoy,177; at Cold Harbor, 181; 
moving west, 268; at Lynchburg, 270, 274; 
moves towards Frederick, 278; at Monoe- 
acy River, 280; moving towards Washing- 
ton, 282; reasons for giving up assault of 
Wa.shington, 285 ; in Shenandoah Valley, 
433, 487. 

Echols, John, Gen. (C), 262, 265. 

Echols's division (C), 277. 

Edie, Lieutenant-colonel (U.), 415. 

Egan's brigade (U.), 159, 324. 

Eliet, General (U.), 50. 

Elliott's brigade (C), 370. 

Emory, General (U.), 283. 

Emory's division (U.), 55. 

Epps, Dr., 137. 

Esfe's brigade (U.), 416. 

Evans's brigade (C), 117. 

Eweli, General (C), 76, 82, 86, 100, 122, 124. 

Farragut, Admiral (U.), 302, 379. 

Featherstone's division (C), 254. 

Fernald, Corporal (U.), 150. 

Ferrero, General (U.), 370, 373. 

Field, Colonel (C), 222. 

Field's division (C), 102, 182, 328. 

Fiunegan, General (C), 22. 

Fish, John D., Capt. (U.), 119. 

Fitzhugh, Captain (C), 435. 

Fitzpatrick, Thomas, Coxswain (U.), 390. 

Floyd, John B.(C.), 410. 

Force's brigade (U. ), 346, 353. 

Forrest, N. B., Gen. (C. ), 13,' 17, 30, 41, 43, 
429. 

Forts: Anderson, 34; Darling, 145; De Rus- 
sey, 285; Donelson,33; Gaines, 377; Mor- 
gan, 377, 452 ; Pillow, 38 ; Powell, 377 ; 
Powhatan, 137; Slocum,2S5; Stevens, 285. 

Foster, General (U.), 369. 

Franklin, General (U.), 49, 53, 55. 

Freeman, Martin (U.), 386. 

Fremont, Charles, Gen. (U.), 444. 

French, General (C), 10. 



472 



INDEX. 



Fullam, Mr. (C), 309. 

Fuller, General (U.), 349. 

Fuller's divisiou (U.), 348, 350, 355. 

Garrard, General (U. ), 236, 248. 258, 401, 
410, 413. 

Garrard's division (U. ), 335, 343. 

Geary, General (U.), 216. 

Geary's division (U.), 232, 343. 

Georgia Regiment, the Si.xt}'-si.\tli (C). 350. 

Getty's division (U.), 86, 182, 286. 

Gherardi, Lieutenant (U.), 383. 

Gib])on, General (U.). 186. 189. 

Gibbon's division (U.), 104, 108. 110, 116, 324, 
358. 

Gibbs's brigade (U.). 126. 

Gile, Captain (U.), 349. 

Gillem, General (U.), 429. 

Gillmore, Quincy A., Gen. (U.), 21, 133, 138, 
141, 149. 312. 314. 

Gilraor. Harry (C), 283. 

Gilmore, J. B., Mr. (U.), 460. 

Gilmore. Major (C). 435. 

Goodman. Captain (C), 41. 

Gordon, .James B., Gen. (C). 92, 117. 128. 

Gordon's division (C). 117, 128, 181, 277, 280. 

Gorringe, Captain (U.), 61. 

Gould. Colonel (U.), 327. 

Govan's brigade (C), 415. 

Gowin, William (U.), 310. 

Gracie's brigade (C). 141, 147, 370. 

Graham, General (C). 314. 

Granberry. General (C), 239. 

Granberry's brigade (C), 416. 

Granger. Gordon. Gen. (U.), 380, 398. 

Grant, Ulysses S., Gen. (U.), appointed Lieu- 
tenant general, 68; meets Meade at Brandy 
Station, 71 ; meets Sherman at Nashville, 
72; views of military operations, 73, 199; 
at Fortress Monroe, 74, 133; at Germania 
Ford, 81; at the Wilderness, 85; at Spott- 
sylvania, 97; directs military movements. 
104; unfolds plan of campaign, 112; .sends 
letter to General Halleck, 112; changes po- 
sition of troops, 123; lays new plans, 153; 
movements criticised, 161; remarks on his 
position, 163; sends despatch to Halleck, 
164; changes base of supplies. 165; orders 
Sheridan to move towards Mechanicsville, 
166; moves towards Cold Harbor, 167; or- 
ders Butler to send troops, 178; orders as- 
sault at Cold Harbor, 186; remarks on the 
battle, 186; sends letters to General Lee, 
196; views of the assault, 197; orders pon- 
toons sent to the .James, 198; directs Sigel 



to move up the Shenandoah, 260, 262 ; 
sends orders to Hunter, 266; directs Sher- 
idan to move towards Lynchburg, 273 ; 
sends troops to Halleck, 278; sends Ord to 
Washington, 282; orders Emory to Wash- 
ington, 283; difficulty of transferring army 
to Petersburg. 313, 314; issues orders to 
Butler, 316, 331; begins the siege of Pe- 
tersburg, 334 ; plan of siege, 358; at Bai- 
ley's Creek. 369; .sends Mott's division to 
Petersburg, 370; failure of plan at Peters- 
burg, 374; hears of evacuation of Atlanta, 
418. 

Greeley, Horace (U.), 443, 446. 

Greeley, Lieutenant colonel (U. ), 324. 

Green, General (C). 53, 56, 61. 

Greene. Lieutenant (U.), 383. 

Gregg, David McM., Gen. (U.), 273. 

Gregg, General (U.). 167. 

Gregg's brigade (C), 91. 

Gregg's cavalry (U.), 78, 99, 124. 

Gregg's division (U.), 25, 126, 166, 182. 

Griffin's division (U.j, 102, 158, 181. 326, 333. 

Grover's division (U.), 50. 

Guthrie, Mr. (U.), 200. 

Hagood's brigade (C), 134, 137, 139. 

Halleck, H. W., Gen. (U.), 47, 67, 73, 278. 

Hallett, Genera] (U.), 167. 

Hampton, Wade, Gen. (C). 108. 278. 

Hampton's division (C), 166, 361. 

Hancock. W. S., Gen. (U. ), commands sec- 
ond corps of Army of the Potomac, 76; at 
the Wilderness, 85. 86, 87, 91, 95; at Spott- 
sylvania,97, 104.107,110, 115,117; marches 
towards the North Anna, 153; reaches it, 
158; his position there, 162; at Cold Har- 
bor, 184. 186 ; moves towards Petersburg, 
315; receives message from Grant, 320; re- 
marks on Smith's fsulure to attack, 323 ; 
reaches Bailey's Creek, 369. 

Hardee, General (C). 342. 344, 355, 414. 

Hardee's corps (C), 207, 214, 220, 221, 225, 
235, 240, 244. 343, 347, 350, 355, 416. 

Harris, Colonel (C). 328. 

Harris, Governor of Tennessee (C), 30. 

Harris, Mr. (C), 451. 

Harris's brigade (C), 118. 

Harrow's division (U.), 240. 348. 405. 

Hascall's division (U.). 239. 

Hawkins. Colonel (U.). 34. 

Hawley's brigade (C). 22. 

Hay, John (U.), 447. 

Hayes, Rutherford B., Col. (U.), 261. 

Hazcn's brigade (U.). 236. 



INDEX. 



Ilazen's division (U.), 414. 

Heckmau, General (U.), 138, 140, 147, 149. 

Heckmaii's brigade (U.), 138, 140, 146. 

Hetli's division (C). 88, 91, 108, 120, 181, 369. 

Hickenlooper, General (U.), 349. 

Hicks. S G.,Col. (U.), 34, 37. 

Hill, A. P., Gen. (C), 76: at the Wilderness, 
82,85, 91, 93; at Spottsylvauia, 117, 118 ; at 
Cold Harbor, 182; at Petersburg, 358, 361. 

Hill, Captain (C), 264. 

Hill's corps (C), 160, 190, 268, 315, 331. 

Hindman's division (C), 236. 

Hines, Tiiomas H., Col. (C), 440. 

Hinks, General (U.), 137, 142, 146, 151, 31G, 
320. 

Hoffman's brigade (U.), 160. 

Hoke, General (C), 134, 147. 

Hoke's brigade (C), 158. 163, 182. 

Hoke's division (C), 146, 149, 319, 370. 

Holcombe, James P. (C). 440, 447. 

Hood, John B., Gen. (C), at Resaca, 215, 220; 
at Cassville, 226; sends message to Jolni- 
son, 236; falls back to Zion's Church, 254; 
supersedes Johnston, 342; plan of battle at 
Atlanta, 343, 344; moves against McPlicr- 
son, 347; in battle, 353, 354; at Atlanta, 
401 ; discovers plan of Stoneman, 404 ; 
thinks Sherman is retreating, 413 ; orders 
troops to Jonesborough, 414; orders Har- 
dee back to Atlanta, 415; collects his army 
at Lovejoy's Station, 421. 

Hood's corps (C), 207, 214, 221, 225, 232, 235. 

Hooker, General (U.), 94, 207, 208, 215, 225, 
231, 235, 254, 405 

Hovev's division (U.), 215. 

Howard, O. O., Gen. (U.), 188, 208, 215, 232, 
235, 254, 405. 

Humphreys, General (U.), 85, 92, 102,120, 125. 

Hunt, General (U.), 334. 

Hunt, Mr. (U.), 450. 

Hunter, General (U.). succeeds Sigel, 266; at 
Staunton, 267; decides to march to Lynch- 
burg, 268; retreats down Kanawha Valley, 
270, 274, 432; moves east from Wheeling, 
286. 

Hunter, Senator (C), 140. 

Hunter's brigade (U.), 182. 

Hunton, General (C), 146. 

Hurlburt, Stephen A., Gen. (U.), 13, 430. 



352 ; the Sixty-sixth, 856 ; the Sixty-sev- 
enth, 53; the One Hundred and Seventh, 
356; the One Hundred and Eleventh, 356. 

Imboden, J. D., Gen. (C), 263, 265, 267, 270, 
277, 434. 

Indiana Regiment (U.), the Forty-ninth, 57; 
the Sixty-seventh, 53. 

Iowa Regiment, the Fourteenth (U.), 57. 

Jackson, General (C), 434. 

Jackson, Stonewall, Gen. (C), 85, 125, 200, 
260. 

Jacques, Colonel (U.), 460. 

Jenkins, Captain (U.), 383. 

Jenkins, General (C), 261. 

Johnson, Andrew (U.), 445. 

Johnson, Bradley T.. Gen. (C), 277. 

Johnson, Edward, Major-gen. (C), 117, 122. 

Johnson, General (C), 278, 282, 406. 

Johnson's (Bushrod) brigade (C), 139, 149, 
151. 

Johnson's division (C), 102, 110, 116, 118, 
324, 358, 370. 

Johnson's division (U.), 236, 239. 

Johnston, Captain (C), 394. 

Johnston, Joseph E., Gen. (C. j, at Dalton, 
17, 73, 199, 209; at the Wilderness, 92; ap- 
pointed commander of army, 204; neglects 
to guard Snake Creek Gap, 209; withdraws 
to Resaca, 211 ; orders artillery to open 
fire, 216 ; orders troops to Calhoun, 219 ; 
retreats from Resaca, 221 ; orders troops 
to concentrate at Cassville, 225 ; consults 
with officers, 226 ; sends message to Gen- 
eral Jackson, 231; describes battle of New 
Hope Church, 232; moves south-west, 235; 
remarks on battle of Pickett's Mill, 239 ; 
moving towards Lost iMountain, 243; at 
Pine Mountain, 244; at Kenesaw, 248; in 
battle, 254; abandons Marietta, 258; builds 
new fortifications, 335; retreats across the 
Chattahoochee, 340; superseded by Hood, 
342. 

Johnston, R. D., Gen. (C), 121. 

Johnston's (R. D.) brigade (C), 117. 

Jones, Colonel (C), 232. 

Jones, William E., Gen. (C), 261, 266. 

Jouett, Lieutenant (U.), 883, 389. 

Judah, Henry M., Gen. (U.), 215. 



Illinois Regiment (U. ), the Eightli Caval- 
ry, 278, 280, 284 ; the Twelfth, 356 ; the 
Twentieth, 346; the Thirtieth, 346; the 
Thirty-first, 346 ; the Forty-fifth, 346 ; the 
Fiftv-fiffJi, 356; the Sixty-fourth, 349, 350, 



Kaulfus, Dr. (C). 446. 

Kautz, General (U.). 134, 137, 140, 142, 146, 

151, 314,316, 320,361. 
Keith, Lawrence M., Col. (C), 181. 
Kell, Mr. (C), 304, 307. 



474 



INDEX. 



Kemper, General (C), 153. 
Kentucky Regiment, the Nineteenth (U.). 53. 
Kersliaw's brTgiide (C), 102, 118, 158, 181. 
Kershaw's division (C), 328, 331, 369. 
Kilpatrick, Judson, Gen. (U.), 25, 29, 215, 

219, 406, 409. 
Kinney, John C. . Lieut. (U.), 389. 
Kitching's brigade (U.), 122, 123, 124. 
Knights of the Golden Circle, 441. 
Knowles, Quartermaster (U.), 386. 

L.\iRD, Captain (U.), 349, 352. 

Lamson, John (U.), 390. 

Laudram, General (U.), 53. 

Lane's brigade (C), 117, 120. 

Le Roy, Commander (U.), 383. 

Ledlie's division (U.), 327, 370, 373. 

Lee, Fitz-Hugh, Gen. (C), 125, 273, 362. 

Lee, GeneraflU.), 53. 

Lee, JoeP.,Capt. (C), 222. 

Lee, Robert E., Gen. (C). constancy of army 
to, 6 ; near Richmond, 25 ; sends flag of 
truce to General Meade, 29 ; condition of 
his army, 73, 76 ; at the Wilderness, 82 ; 
at Spottsylvania, 98, 107, 118, 153; trans- 
fers troops to Richmond, 103; loss at Spott- 
sylvania, 116, 124 ; changes position of 
troops, 121, 122; learns of General Stuart's 
death, 131 ; receives troops from Beaure- 
gard, 152 ; at Hanover Junction, 157; at 
the North Anna, 161; at Cold Harbor, 178; 
replies to Grant's letters, 196; orders Breck- 
inridge to come to his a.ssislance, 266 ; learns 
of Jones's defeat at Piedmont, 267; sends 
Early west, 268; sends Hampton and Fitz- 
Hugh Lee to resist Sheridan, 273; design in 
sending Early west, 274; learns of Grant's 
movement, 315; position of his army, 319, 
331 ; tries to discover Grant's position, 331 ; 
directions to Hill at Petersburg, 358; sends 
Mahone against Kautz and Wilson, 362 ; 
strengthens fortifications at Petersburg, 
374. 

Lee, S. D., Gen. (C), 340, 405, 414. 

Lee, W. H. F., Gen. (C), 331, 361, 370. 

Lee's (Fitz-Hugh) division (C). 99, 166, 181. 

Lcggett's division (U.), 346, 348, 351, 355. 

Letcher, John, Governor of Virginia(C.), 267, 
432. 

Lewis, .John E. (U.), 193. 

Lewis's brigade (C), 414, 416. 

Liddell. General (C), 58. 

Lieb, Captain (U.), 280. 

Lincoln, Abraham, calls for more men, 3 ; 
orders expedition to Jacksonville, 21; ap- 



points Grant Lieutenant-general, 68; at 
AVashington, 75 ; meets troops at Wash- 
ington, 283; at Fort Stevens, 285; receives 
news of evacuation of Atlanta, 418; criti- 
cism of, 443, 445, 450; renominated, 445; 
letter to Confederate commissioners, 447; 
sends men to confer with Davis, 460. 

Llewellyn, ]\Ir. (C), 308. 

Logan, John A., Gen. (U.). at Resaca, 208, 
215, 219; at Pickett's Mill, 236; at Dallas, 
240 ; at Kenesaw, 254 ; at Atlanta, 346 ; 
takes McPherson's place, 352; cheers Fif- 
teenth Corps, 356; at Ezra Church, 405; at 
Jonesborough, 414. 

Long, Mr. (C), 450. 

Longstreet, James, Gen. (C), 18, 76, 82, 86, 
182. 

Longstreet's corps (C), 268. 

Loring, General (C). 10, 13, 251, 405. 

Loring's division (C), 405. 

Louisiana Regiment (C), Crescent, 54; the 
Eighteenth, 54; the Twenty-eighth, 54. 

Lovell, General (C), 342. 

Mahone's division (C), 108, 358, 362, 370. 

Maine Regiment (U. ), the Fifth, 118; the 
Ninth, 149; the Sixteenth, 101; the Twen- 
tieth, 102. 

Maitland, Mr. (U.), 61. 

]\Iallory, Mr. (C), 128. 

Malloy's brigade (U.), 346, 348, 355. 

Maney's division (C), 344, 347, 351, 354, 357. 

Manigault's brigade (C), 355. 

Marchand, Capitain (U.), 383. 

Marine Brigade (U.), 50. 

Martin's cavalry (C), 219. 

Martindale's division (U.), 178. 182, 185, 320. 

Maryland brigade (U.), 124. 

Maryland Regiment (U.), the Eleventh, 280; 
the Third Regiment of Potomac Home 
Guards, 280. 

Massachusetts Regiment (U. ), the Twelfth 
102; the Thirteenth, 101; the Eighteenth 
102; the Twenty-third, 148; the Twenty 
fourth. 263; the Twenty-fifth, 151, 193 
196 ; the Twenty-seventh, 140 ; the Twen 
tyeighth, 369; the Thirty-fourth, 266; the 
Thirty-ninth. 101; the Fifty-seventh, 325. 

McCann, Lieutenant (U.), 383. 

McCausland, General (C), 268, 270, 282, 284, 
434. 

McClellan, George B., Gen. (U.), 67, 167, 173, 
313, 451. 

McCook, Daniel, Gen. (U.), 231, 402. 

McCulloch's brigade (C), 41. 



INDEX. 



475 



McGevney, Colonel (C), 223. 

McGowau, Generate.), 121. 

McGowau's brigade (C), 118. 

McLaughlin, Colonel (C), 264. 

McLean, Lieutenant (U.), 434. 

McLean's brigade (U.), 236, 239. 

McMillan's brigade (U.), 55. 

McPheison, James B., Gen. (U.), commands 
Sixteenth Corps in attack on Meridian, 18; 
commands Array of Tennessee, 199 ; at 
Snake Creek Gap, 209, 211 ; at Resaca, 214; 
at Cassville, 225; at Pickett's Mill, 235; at 
New Hope, 240; at Kenesaw, 244, 254; ap- 
proaches Atlanta, 340, 343; moves against 
the city, 344; killed, 351. 

Meade, George G., Gen. (U.), consents to raid 
on Libby Prison, 25; receives message from 
Lee, 29 ; meets Grant, 71 ; at the Wilder- 
ness, 85, 88, 92 ; at Spottsylvania, 97, 103, 
108 ; order to Wright, 118 ; disagreement 
with Sheridan, 124 ; at Cold Harbor, 164, 
167, 181 ; issues congratulatory order to 
Sixth Corps, 184; sends order to Hancock, 
316; assumes command at Petersburg, 324; 
preparations for assault, 328; order to at- 
tack, 332 ; orders movement of Second 
Corps, 358 ; consents to mine at Peters- 
burg, 366; objects to colored troops lead- 
ing assault, 370 ; orders withdrawal of 
troops, 374. 

Memminger, Mr. (C), 128. 

Mercer's brigade (C), 207. 

Merritt's brigade (U.), 178. 

Merritt's division (U.), 25, 99, 125. 

Metcalf, Lieutenant (U.), 119. 

Michigan Regiment (U.), the First, 102; the 
Fifth, 274; the Sixteenth, 102; the Twenty- 
sixth, 116; the Twenty- seventh, 196; the 
Forty-eighth, 369. 

Miles, Nelson A., Gen. (U.), 369. 

Miles's brigade (U.), 109, 116, 190. 

Mink, Captain (U.), 160. 

Minnesota Regiment, the First (U.), 282. 

Missouri Regiment (U.), the Sixth, 356; the 
Twelfth, 216; the Eighteenth, 349, 350; the 
Twenty-fourth, 57. 

Mitchell, John (U.), 196. 

Montgomery, Colonel (C), 22. 

Moor, Colonel (U.), 263. 

Moore, Governor of Alabama (C), 377. 

Moore's brigade (U.), 416. 

Morgan, John H., Gen. (C), 424, 443. 

Morgan's division (U.), 416. 

Morrell's brigade (U.), 348. 

Morris, H. O., Col. (U.), 190. 



Mott's division (U.), 91, 104, 110, 115, 117, 

358, 370. 
Mouton's division (C), 53. 
Mower's brigade (U.), 56. 
MuUany, Commander (U.), 384, 391. 
Mulligan, Colonel (U.), 277. 
Munson, Colonel (U.), 346. 
IMutual Protection Society, 441. 

Napoleon, Louis, Emperor of France, 47, 
441. 

Navy (U.), 9. 

Neill, General (U.), 182. 

Neill's brigade (U.), 110. 

Neill's division (U.), 328. 

New Hampshire Regiment, the Fifth (U.), 
190. 

New Jersey Regiment, the Ninth (U.), 140, 
148. 

New York Regiment (U.), the Twenty-first, 
118; the Forty-fourth, 102, 111; the Fifty- 
first, 280 ; the Sixty-first, 116 ; the Sixty- 
fourth, 116; the Sixty-sixth, 116; the Sev- 
enty-third, 369; the Eighty-third, 102; the 
Ninety-seventh, 102 ; the One Hundredth, 
281; the One Hundred and Fourth, 101; 
the One Hundred and Twelfth, 149; the 
One Hundred and Twenty-first, 118. 

Newspapers ■ the New York Tribune, 443, 
446. 

Newton's division (U.), 216, 239, 343. 

Nields, Ensign (U.), 389. 

Noble, Colonel (C), 54. 

Northrop, Colonel (C), 181. 

Ohio Militia (L".), the One Hundred and 
Forty-ninth, 280 ; the One Hundred and 
Fifty-ninth, 280. 

Ohio Regiment (U.), the Seventh, 232; the 
Twentieth, 352, 354; the Twenty-seventh, 
349,352; the Thirty-ninth, 349]^ 352; the 
Forty-eighth, 53; the Fifty-seventh, 356 ; 
the Sixty-third, 349; the Seventj^-eighth, 
852, 356 ; the Eighty - first, 349, 356 ; the 
Eighty-third, 53, 54; the Ninety-sixth, 53; 
the One Hundred and Third, 339; tlie One 
Hundred and Twenty-third, 263, 

O'Neil, Lieutenant (U.), 34. 

O'Neill, Captain (U.), 196. 

Ord, Edward C, Gen. (U.), 282. 

Osterhaus, General (U.), 216, 240. 

Ould, Mr. (C), 140. 

Owen's brigade (C), 117. 

Page, R.L., Gen. (C), 399. 



476 



INDEX. 



Page's Artillery (C), 117. 

Palmer, Jolm M., Gen. (U.), 17, 208, 235, 254, 
257. 

Palmer's division (U.), 343. 

Parson's division (C), 56. 

Patrick, General (U.), 123. 

Paul, Colonel (C). 873. 

Peace Democrats, 3, 5, 439, 442, 445, 447, 451. 

Pegram's brigade (C), 92, 117. 

Pendleton, Mr. (U.), 451. 

Pennington, Captain (U.), 274. 

Pennsylvania Regiment (U.), the Eleventh, 
102; the Sixteenth, 284; the Forty-eighth, 
366, 370; the Fifty-third, 116 ; the Eighty- 
first, 116; the Eighty-third, 102; the Eighty- 
eighth, 102 ; the Ninetieth, 102; the Nine- 
ty-fifth, 118; the Ninety-sixth, 118; the 
Ninety-ninth, 369 ; the One Hundred and 
Seventh, 369; the One Hundred and Eigh- 
teenth, 102; tlie One Hundred and Forti- 
eth, 116; the One Hundred and Forty-fifth, 
116; the One Hundred and Forty-eighth, 
116, 190 ; the One Hundred and Eighty- 
third, 116, 369. 

Perrin, General (C). 118, 121. 

Perrin's brigade (C), 118. 

Peterkin, Rev. Mr., 131. 

Pickett, General (C), 133, 137. 

Pickett's division (C), 102. 158, 163, 182. 

Pierce's brigade (U.), 159. 

Pleasants, Colonel (U.), 366, 370. 

Polignac, General (C), 50, 56. 

Polk, Leonidas, Gen. (C), 10, 17, 208, 214, 
219, 221, 225, 235, 244. 

Porter, David D., Admiral (U.),"48, 58, 65. 

Potter's division (U.), 120, 163, 181, 325, 373. 

Prestman, Colonel (C), 335, 342. 

Preston, Colonel (C), 5. 

Price, Edwin, Coxswain (U.), 390. 

R.\MSEUR, General (C), 118, 121. 

Ramseur's brigade (C), 118. 

Ramseur's division (C), 277, 280, 284. 

Ran.^om, Robert, Gen. (C), 141, 146. 

Ransom, T. E. G., Gen. (U.), 53, 414. 

Ransom's division (C), 147. 

Raum, Colonel (U.), 406. 

Rawsou's brigade (C), 370, 373. 

Raymond, Captain (U.), 150, 351. 

Red River Expedition, 44. 

Rees, Henry, Sergeant (U.), 370. 

Reese, Captain (U.), 219. 

Reilly's brigade (U.), 254. 

Rice, James C, Gen. (U.). Ill, 160. 

Pickett's division (U.), 86, 182, 278, 280, 281. 



Robinson's division (U.), 86, 102. 

Rodes, General (C), 118. 

Rodcs's division (C), 93, 102, 110, 117, 181, 

277, 280. 
Rosecrans, General (U.), 443. 
Rosser's brigade (C), 273. 
Rousseau, General (U.), 401. 
Russell's brigade (U.), 110, 111, 118. 
Russell's division (U.), 166, 182. 185. 

Sanders, George (C), 446. 

Sanderson, Colonel (U.), 443. 

Scales's brigade (C). 120. 

Schneider, Edward (U.), 325. 

Schofield, General ( U. ), at Knoxville, 18; 
commands Army of Ohio, 199; moves tow- 
ards Resaca, 208, 214, 219; at Cassville, 
225 ; near Dallas, 231, 235 ; near Lost 
Mountain, 244; at Keuesaw, 254; crosses 
the Chattahoochee, 336 ; approaches At- 
lanta, 340, 345 ; attacks, 349 ; receives or- 
der from Sherman, 356 ; at Rough and 
Ready, 415. 

Scott, Winfield S., Gen. (U.), 67. 

Scott's brigade (U.), 346, 352, 354. 

Scribner's brigade (U.), 236, 239. 

Seddon, Secretary (C), 4, 440. 

Sedgwick, General (U.), 76, 85, 93, 95, 103, 
104. 

Semmes, Raphael, Capt. (C), 288. 

Sewell, Joe (C), 222. 

Seymour, Horatio (U.), 450, 452. 

Seymour, Truman, Gen. (U.), 21, 25. 

Seymour's brigade (U.). 92. 93. 

Shaler's brigade (U.), 92, 93. 

Shaw's brioiide(U.), 56. 

Shepley, General (U.), 41. 

Sheridan, Philip H., Gen. (U.), made com- 
mander of cavalry, 74 ; moving towards 
the Wilderness, 78 ; reaches it, 86 ; at 
Spottsylvauia, 99, 103; at the North Anna, 
165; moves towards Cold Harbor, 167; at 
Cold Harbor, 178, 181; disagreement with 
Meade, 124; orders to division command- 
ers, 128 ; moves towards Lynchburg, 273; 
at Bailey's Creek, 369. 

Sherman, William T., Gen. (U.), at Vicks- 
burg, 10, 13, 14; escapes capture at Deca- 
tur, 13 ; at Memphis, 48 ; meets Grant at 
Nashville. 72 ; plan of campaign, 199 ; 
gives orders to McPherson and Hooker, 
209; views of McPherson's course, 211; 
at Dug Gap, 213; at Resaca, 215; orders 
troops to cross Lay's Ferr}', 219; at Cass- 
ville, 225 ; organizes an engineer corps. 



INDEX. 



477 



228 ; moves against Johnston's flunk, 231 ; 
at New Hope Church, 232 ; moves north- 
east, 235; at Pickett's Mill, 236; at Dallas, 
240 '; advances towards Lost Mountain, 
244,248; at Kenesaw, 254; enters Mariet- 
ta, 258; compt'ls Johnston to fall back, 
335, 340; learns that Hood has superseded 
Johnston, 343 ; consults with McPherson 
at Atlanta, 348 ; appoints Logan to take 
McPlierson's place, 352; sends orders to 
Schotield, 356 ; plan of action at Atlanta, 
401; favors plan to release prisoners at 
Anderson ville, 402; begins siege of Atlan- 
ta, 405 ; pleased with action of Kilpatrick, 
409; sends despatch to Halleck, 410; hears 
of evacuation of Atlanta, 418 ; enters At- 
lanta, 421 ; sends letter to Hood, 422 ; re- 
moves people of Atlanta, 425. 
Ships: Alabama (C). 47, 288; Ariel (U.), 
294; Black Hawk (U.), 48; Brilliant (U.), 
291; Brooklyn (U.). 383; Chastelaine (U.), 
295; Chickasaw (U.), 384; Conrad (U.). 310; 
Constitution (A.), 294; Couronne (F.), 304; 
Courser (U.). 391; Cowslip(U.),384; Crick- 
et (U.), 61; Dcerhound (B.), 304. 308,309; 
Eastport (U.),61; Gaines (C), 378, Galena, 
(U.), 384; Golden Eagle (U.), 295; Golden 
Rule (ID. 295; Guerriere (B.), 295; Hart- 
ford (U.), 379, 383; Harvest Home (U.), 290, 
Hatteras (U.), 294, 301; Hindman (U.),61, 
66; Itasca (U.), 379, 383; Juliet (U.), 61; 
Kearsarge (U.), 293, 296, 301 ; Kennebec 
(U.), 383, Lackawanna (U.), 383; Lexing- 
ton (U.), 58, 65; Manhattan (U.), 384; Met- 
acomet (U.), 383; Monongahela (U.), 383; 
Morgan (C), 378, Neosho (U.), 66; New 
EraTu.), 41, Ocmulgee (U.), 290; Octorora 
(U.), 379, 383; Olive Brancli i^U.), 41, Olive 
Jane(U,). 295; Oneida (U.), 384; Osage (U)., 
58, 61; Ossipee (U.), 383; Palmetto (U.), 
295; Parker Cooke (U.), 293; Paw])aw (U.), 
34; Piosta (U.), 34; Port Royal (U.), 383; 
Richmond (U.), 383; San Jacinto (U.), 299; 
Selma (C), 378; Seminole (U.). 383; Star- 
light (U.), 280 ; Sumter (C), 290, 293 ; Te- 
cumseh (U.), 380, 384; Tennessee (C), 378 
Thistle (C), 440; Tonawanda (U.), 290, 292 
Tuscaloosa (C), 310; Vanderbilt (U.), 295 
Wales (U.), 293; Winnebago (U.). 384 
AVyoming (U.), 296. 
Shirk, Lieutenant (U.), 34. 
Sickel, Colonel (U.), 261. 
Sigel, General (U.), 77, 260, 262, 265, 277, 284 
Skip, Colonel (U.), 263. 
Sleeper, Captain (U.), 186. 



Slocum, General (U.), 417. 

Smith, A. J , Gen. (U.), 429. 

Smith, Colonel (C), 265. 

Smith, E. Kirby, Gen. (C), 50, 58, 340. 

Smith, G.W., Gen. (C). 343. 

Smith, General (U.), 314, 316, 319. 

Smith, Giles A., Gen. (U.), 216, 346, 348, 350, 

352, 355. 
Smith, John E., Gen. (U.). 251, 254, 406. 
Smith, Morgan L., Gen. (U.). 240, 405. 
Smith, William F., Gen. (U.), 133, 138, 141, 

146, 148, 178, 182, 186, 189. 
Smith, William Sooy, Gen. (U.), 13, 17. 

Smith's (A. J.) division (U.), 48. 

Smith's cavalry (C), 38. 

Smith's (Morgan L.) division (U.), 348, 354, 
356. 

Smythe's brigade (U.), 109, 116 

Sons of Liberty, 440, 441, 445, 448. 

Sprague's division (U.), 348. 

Stahl, General (U.), 277. 

Stanley, General (U.), 405, 413, 415. 

Stanley's division (U.), 216, 239, 343. 

Stanton, Edwin M. (U.), 67, 71. 

Steele, Captain (U.), 349. 

Steele, General (U.). 48, 50. 

Stevens, Captain (U.), 394. 

Stevenson. General (C), 214, 216, 220. 

Stewart, General (C), 342, 347, 405, 4J4, 416. 

Stewart's corps (C), 343, 344. 

Stewart's division (C), 216, 232. 

Stone, Colonel (U.), 54. 

Stoneman, General (U.X 402. 

Stoneman's division (U.,, 214, 236, 240. 

Strong, Commander (U.), 383, 391. 

Strong, In.spector-general (U.), 349. 

Stuart, Brigadier -general (C. ), 86, 99, 122, 
124, 128, 131. 

Stuart's brigade (C), 117. 

Sturgis, General (U.), 429. 

Sweeney's division (U.), 219. 348, 356. 

Sweet, J. B., Col. (U.), 448. 
Sweitzer's brigade (U.), 102, 181, 184. 

Taylor, Colonel (U.), 240. 

Taylor, Richard, Gen. (C), 50, 53, 56, 58, 204. 

Tennessee Regiment, the One Hundred and 

Fiftv-fourtir(C.), 222. 
Terry,' General (U.), 324. 
Terry's brigade (U.), 117. 
Terry's division (U.), 145, 146, 149, 152. 
Texas Redment, the Seventeenth (C), 54 
Thoburn,"Colonel (U.), 264. 
Thomas, C.R., Mr. (U.), 280. 
Thomas, George H., Gen. (U.), commands 



478 



INDEX. 




Array of Cumberland at Chattanooga, 17, 
199; at Ringgold, 208 ; at Kcsaca, 215; at 
Cassville, 225; near Dallas, 231; near Ken- 
esaw, 235, 244 ; at Peach-tree Creek, 340, 
343, 345 ; at Atlanta, 348 ; at Shoal Creek 
Church, 413 ; sends order to Stanley, 415 ; 
hears of evacuation of Atlanta, 418. 

Thomas's brigade (C). 120. 

Thompson, Jacob (C), 440, 442, 448. 

Thompson, N. P., Gen. (C), 34. 37. 

Thompson, Orderly (U.), 349, 351. 

Torbert, General (U.), 178. 

Torbert's division (U.), 166, 178, 273. 

Turchin's brigade (U.), 18. 

Turner's division (U.), 146, 149. 

Tyler, General (U.), 124. 278. 281. 

Tyler's brigade (U.), 101, 122. 

Upton, Colonel (U.), 119. 

Upton's brigade (U.), 110, 118, 122, 182. 

Vallandigham, Clement L. (C). 441, 445. 

448. 451. 
Vance's brigade (U.), 53, 54, 55. 
Vanderbilt. ]\Ir. (U.). 294. 
Vaughn. General (C), 434. 
Veatch's division (U.). 216. 
Vermont Regiment, the Tenth (U.), 280, 281. 
Virginia Regiment, the Sixty-second (C). 

265. 

Wadsworth's division (U.), 86. 88. 102. 

Walcott. General (U.). 354. 

Walcott's brigade (U.), 240. 

Walker. Colonel (C). 54. 

Walker, General (C), 121, 350. 

Walker's brigade (U.), 117. 

Walker's division (C), 50, 53, 56, 219. 343, 

347, 349. 352, 357. 
Wallace, Lew., Gen. (U.). 278, 281. 
Wallace, Sergeant (U.), 150. 
Walthall's division (C), 405. 
War Democrats, 442. 
Ward's division (U.), 343. 
Warren, General (U.), 76. 85, 88. 93. 95. 109, 

153. 158. 161. 186. 190, 315. 328. 331. 333. 
Washburne, E. B., Mr., M. C. (U.). 68, 93,111. 



Washburne, General (U.), 430. 

Webb. General (U.). 122. 

Webb's brigade (U.), 110. 

Weber, General (U.), 277. 

Webster. Daniel. 299. 

Weitzel, General (U.). 146. 147. 149. 

Welles, Colonel (U.). 349. 355. 

Welles. Lieutenant (U.), 384. 

Wharton. General (C), 262. 265. 

Wheaton. General (U.), 286. 

Wheaton's division (U.), 118. 

Wheeler, General (C). 347. 348. 

Wheeler, Lieutenant (U ), 150. 

Wheeler's cavalry (C). 207, 239, 248, 406. 

White, Colonel (U.). 261. 

Whiting. General (C). 142, 146. 151. 

Whitney, General (C), 134. 

Wilco.x's division (U.). 120. 181. 327. 373 

Wilcox's division (C), 88, 91, 369. 

Wilkes, Rear-admiral (U.), 296. 

Williams. Captain (U.). 354. 

Williams. Lieutenant-colonel (C ), 398. 

Williams. Mrs. (U.). 429. 

Williams's division (U.), 214. 216. 232. 343. 

Wilson's cavalry (U.), 78, 99, 124, 126, 164, 

315, 361. 
Winslow, John A., Capt. (U.), 299. 301. 385. 
Wi.sconsin Regiment (U.). the Twelfth. 346; 

the Thirteenth, 346; the Twenty -third, 

53. 
Wise, Colonel (C), 265. 
Wise, General (C), 312, 319, 370. 
Wise's brigade (C), 142, 146. 
Wofford's brigade (C). 182. 
Wood's division (U.), 216. 236, 239. 343, 345, 

348. 356. 
Wuods, C. R., Gen. (U.). 216. 
Wraugelin's brigade (U.). 351. 
Wright, Colonel (U.). 244. 
Wright. Horatio G.. Gen. (U.). 104, 109, 118, 

122, 182, 186, 189, 285. 
Wright's division (U.), 56, 86, 92. 

York's brigade (C), 117. 
Young's brigade (C), 273. 

Zetlich, Ensign (U.), 389. 



THE END. 



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SAMUEL SMILES'S WORKS. 

Self-help. — Character. — Thrift. — Duty. — Men of Invention and Industry. — Life and 
Labor; or, Characteristics of Men of Industry, Culture, and Genius.- 12mo, Clotli, $1 00 
eacli. 

Round the World. Including a Residence in Victoria, aiul a Journey by Rail across Nortli 
America. Bv a Boy. Edited by Samuel Smiles. — Life op a Scotch Naturalist: Thomas 
Edward, Associate of the Linn^ean Society. — Robert Dick, Baker of Thurso ; Geologist 
AND Botanist. — James Nasmyth, Engineer. An Autobiography. Edited by Samuel Smiles. 
Illustrated. 12nio, Cloth, |1 50 eacli. 

The Lives op the Stephensons. Comprising, also, a History of the Invention and Intro- 
duction of the Railway Locomotive. Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00. 

THE STARTLING EXPLOITS OF DR. J. B. QUIES. From the French of Paul 
CELikRE. By Mrs. Cashel Hoey and Mr. John Lillie. Profusely Illustrated. 
Crown Svo, Extra Cloth, $1 75. 

FROM THE FORECASTLE TO THE CABIN By Captain S. Samuels. Illustrated. 
12mo, Extra Cloth, $1 50. 



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